Bio Rachel Thompson obtained her PhD at Griffith University, Australia. She is a Research Fellow at the Language Centre, College of Humanities, University of Ghana. Her research is situated in the field of ethnography of communication in a broad sense. She has been involved in a variety of theoretical and applied research projects which focus on culture and language use, political discourse on radio, social media, and anonymous online platforms as well as patient-healthcare provider interactions in relation to mental health disorders, HIV diagnosis and treatment, and maternal and child health. Rachel has led and collaborated with other researchers on abusive language on radio and anonymous online platforms, interjections on interactive online platforms, discourse particles in Ghanaian English, management of communication in psychiatric consultations, impact of HIV disclosure, stigma among people living with HIV, and awareness and impact of COVID-19. She is currently working on understanding the linguistic practices of healthcare professionals on social media platforms in relation to maternal and child healthcare, a study funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York/BANGA-Africa Project. Some of her works have been published in journals such as Communication and Medicine, Corpus Pragmatics, Journal of West African Languages, Nordic Journal of African Studies, and Pragmatics and Society. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7233-0242 https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rRwdEv4AAAAJ&hl=en

Selected Publications

a. Journal Articles

1. Asakitogum D. A., Nutor, J. J., Thompson, R. G. A, Alhassan, R. K., & Gyamerah, A. O. (2024). Impact of COVID-19 on people living with HIV and HIV care: A qualitative study in the Volta Region of Ghana. PLOS Glob Public Health 4(3): e0003017.

2. Ameyaw, E. K., Nutor, J. J., Okiring, J., Yeboah, I., Agbadi, P., Getahun, M., ... & Thompson, R. G. (2024). The role of social support in antiretroviral therapy uptake and retention among pregnant and postpartum women living with HIV in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. BMC public health, 24(1), 540.

3. Nutor, J. J., Okiring, J., Yeboah, I., Thompson, R. G., Agbadi, P., Ameyaw, E. K., ... & Weiser, S. D. (2024). Association between water insecurity and antiretroviral therapy adherence among pregnant and postpartum women in Greater Accra region of Ghana. PLOS Global Public Health, 4(1), e0002747.

4. Nutor, J. J., Gyamerah, A. O., Duah, H. O., Asakitogum, D. A., Thompson, R. G., Alhassan, R. K., & Hamilton, A. (2024). The association of HIV-related stigma and psychosocial factors and HIV treatment outcomes among people living with HIV in the Volta region of Ghana: A mixed-methods study. PLOS Global Public Health, 4(2), e0002994.

5. Nutor, J. J., Gyamerah, A. O., Alhassan, R. K., Duah, H. O., Thompson R. G. A., Wilson, N., Harris, O., Gutierrez, J., Hoffmann, T. J., Getahun, M., & Santos, G. M. (2023). Influence of depression and interpersonal support on adherence to antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV. AIDS Research and Therapy, 20(42), 1-9.

6. Thompson, R. G. A., Ahenkorah, C., & Amoako, K. W. (2022). Natural Semantic Metalanguage of Akan. Journal of West African Languages, 49(1), 46-66.

7. Nutor, J. J., Thompson R. G. A, Agbadi, P., Tuthil, E., Weiser, S., & Anguyo, G. (2022). Exploring postpartum women’s experiences of retention in HIV care through the perspective of the salutogenic model of health. Journal of Global Health Science, e2(4), 1-14.

8. Anderson, J. A., Thompson, R. G. A., Amoakohene, M. I., & Tawiah, V. (2021). Face-attack in political discussions on radio in the context of Ghana’s 2016 electioneering period. Language, Discourse & Society, 9(1), 79-94.

9. Thompson, R. G. A. (2021). Cultural scripts for asymmetrical interactions in Ghana. Nordic Journal of African Studies, 30(1), 22-45.

10. Thompson, R. (2021). Insults in political comments on GhanaWeb: Ethnopragmatic perspectives. Pragmatics and Society, 12(1), 33-58.

11. Thompson, R. G. A., Nutor, J. J., & Johnson, J. K. (2021). Communicating awareness about COVID-19 through songs: An example from Ghana. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 1-12.

12. Thompson, R., Agbozo, G. E., & Amoako, W. K. (2020). Do only balanced bilinguals code switch? Examining language use in urban Ghana. International Journal of Cross-Cultural Studies and Environmental Communication, 9(1), 69-83. 13. Thompson, R. (2019). Tweaa! - A Ghanaian interjection of “contempt” in online political comments. Ampersand: An International Journal of General and Applied Linguistics, 6, 1-7.

14. Thompson, R., & Anderson, J. A. (2019). Perception of politeness: some perspectives from Ghana. Journal of Politeness Research, 15(1), 101-120.

15. Houphouet, E. E., Amfo, N. A. A., Dordoye, E. K., & Thompson, R. (2018). Interactions in psychiatric care consultation in Akan-speaking communities. Communication & Medicine, 15(1), 40-52.

16. Amfo, N. A. A., Houphouet, E. E., Dordoye, E. K., & Thompson, R. (2018). “Insanity is from home”: The expression of mental health challenges in Akan. International Journal of Language and Culture, 5(1), 1-28

17. Thompson, R., & Anderson, J. A. (2018). Interactive programmes on private radio stations in Ghana: An avenue for impoliteness. Journal of African Media Studies, 10(1), 55-72.

18. Thompson, R., & Agyekum, K. (2016). Impoliteness: The Ghanaian standpoint. International Journal of Society, Culture & Language, 4(1), 20-33.

19. Thompson, R. (2015). The semantic value of ade and la. Contemporary Journal of African Studies, 3(2), 71-93. b.

Book Chapter

1. Thompson, R. (2020). Common Akan insults on GhanaWeb: A semantic analysis of kwasea, aboa and gyimii. In B. Peeters, K. Mullan, L. Sadow (eds.), Studies in ethnopragmatics, cultural semantics, and intercultural communication (pp. 103-122). Singapore: Springer Publishing. 

Other Academic Works

1. Thompson, R. G. A., Ahenkorah, C. & Amoako, K. W. (2022). Table of Semantic Primes in Akan. https://nsm-approach.net/resources

2. Ameka, F. K. & Thompson, R. (2017). Table of Semantic Primes in Ewe. https://nsm-approach.net/resources

3. Thompson, R. (2014). Pardonability scale of Impoliteness in Ghana. https://tinyurl.com/3pc9p2kh