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Dr. Gregory Tweedie

Affiliations

Professor

Werklund School of Education, Specialization, Language and Literacy

Adjunct Associate Professor

Faculty of Nursing, Adjuncts

Contact information

Web presence

Phone number

Office: 403.220.7514

Background

Educational Background

Doctor of Philosophy Education, Univ of Southern Queensland, 2013

Biography

Dr. M. Gregory Tweedie holds a PhD in Education (Applied Linguistics focus) from the University of Southern Queensland. His teaching and research interests include English as a lingua franca in healthcare contexts; the linguistics of healthcare communication; English for Specific and Academic Purposes; and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education. 

 

Research

Areas of Research

Scholarly Activity

Dr. M. Gregory Tweedie’s research program, in the field of applied linguistics, focuses on the phenomena of the English language as communicative vehicle in international professional contexts, particularly healthcare, for people from differing first language (L1) backgrounds. He has a particular interest in how the affordances of Artificial Intelligence technologies might assist in enhancing international the teaching, learning and assessment of English as an international language in healthcare settings. 

Interests:
  • Applied linguistics
  • Comparative and international education
  • Dialects in education
  • English as a Lingua franca in healthcare
  • English as an additional/global language in healthcare
  • Explainable artificial intelligence for language learning and assessment 
  • Preparing teachers for ELLs
  • Second language teaching and learning

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
EDER 619 Technological Pedagogical Knowledge for Generative AI Integration Spring 2026
EDER 600 Research Methodology in Education Fall 2025
EDUC 205 Reading Educational Research Fall 2025

Projects

Artificial intelligence to support internationally educated nurses (IENs)

The Compassionate Communication Care Coach (CCCC) is an artificial intelligence–enabled learning, teaching, assessment and research tool designed to support internationally educated nurses (IENs) in developing patient-centred communication, with a particular emphasis on compassion as conceptualized by Sinclair et al. (2018). Drawing on advances in Large Language Models (LLMs), the CCCC simulates interactive clinical encounters similar to Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), allowing IENs to engage in realistic, scenario-based dialogue with virtual patients. Through these interactions, the tool captures communication data and provides automated scoring and formative feedback aligned with validated compassionate communication frameworks (Lee & Seomun, 2016; Malenfant et al., 2022; Tehraninenshat et al., 2021). The goal is to enhance IENs’ competencies in psychosocial domains of care—areas in which licensure exam data suggest persistent performance gaps—while maintaining a focus on authenticity, empathy, and culturally responsive care.

Awards

  • University of Calgary Award for Teaching in Online Environments, Taylor Institute of Teaching and Learning. 2020
  • Dedicated Teacher Award (nominee), Cambridge University Press. 2022

Publications

  • Medical English as a lingua franca. M. Gregory Tweedie & Robert C. Johnson. DeGruyter Mouton. (2022)
  • Perspectives on Medical English as a Lingua Franca. Gregory Maurice Tweedie; Robert Johnson. Cambridge Scholars. (2022)
  • Advancing the writing of academics: Stories from the writing group.. M Gregory Tweedie; Sarah E Eaton; N Simmons; Jennifer Vivian Lock; Erin Spring; Roswita Dressler; Y Kjorlien. Brill/Sense Publishers. (2019)
  • Technology for Medical Language Assessment. M Gregory Tweedie; Robert C Johnson. De Gruyter Mouton. (2025)
  • Transparency, Accountability, and the 'Black Box' Dilemma. . M. Gregory Tweedie; Sharmi, Shahneela T.. In Sabbaghan, S. (Ed). Navigating Generative AI in Higher Education: Ethical, Theoretical and Practical Perspectives. (2025)
  • Translanguaging for high-stakes intercultural clinical communication in multilingual Qatar: health professions education and patient safety where English is a medical lingua franca. Tweedie, M.G., Khanum, M., Johnson, R. C., & LaRiviere, M.. In Abdul-Jabbar, W., Ed., Teaching Interculturally in Qatar: Local Epistemologies, Ethics, and Pedagogies. Routledge. (2024)