ORIGINAL PAPER
Communicative competence in healthcare and linguistic theories: Insights and applications.
1
Faculty of Health Sciences Department of Oncology, Ludwik Rydgier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland
2
Faculty of Linguistics, Chair of Stylistics and Linguistic Pragmatics, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland
Submission date: 2023-10-18
Final revision date: 2023-11-29
Acceptance date: 2023-12-01
Online publication date: 2023-12-31
Corresponding author
Oliwia Kowalczyk
Faculty of Medicine, Ludwik Rydgier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Łukasiewicza 1, 85-821 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Faculty of Medicine, Ludwik Rydgier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Łukasiewicza 1, 85-821 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Acta Elbingensia 2023;50(1):26-31
KEYWORDS
communicative competencecommunication skillsteaching medical communicationmedical communication theoriesacquisition of communication skills
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Physician–patient relationship has evolved from paternalistic model to cooperative one, known as patient-centered, where patients are experts on themselves in the socio-psychological, cultural, and material contexts. This transformed role has led physicians to adapt their highly specialized knowledge to effective communication pattern which is now a focal point in achieving therapeutic relationships in clinical context. Communicative competencies are of particular importance in medical practice and teaching medicine. Educational background derives from theories and foundations of linguistics and psycholinguistics.
Aim:
The article presents main linguistic communicative theories that highly influence communicative competencies in medicine. It provides pragmatic guide to what is achieved from the principles of linguistic communicative competence in the current patient-centered model of communication in healthcare.
Material and methods:
Most important linguistic theories that have their applicative use in teaching medical communication are presented. It is a part of a larger project aimed at bridging the gap between linguistic principles and clinical practice.
Results and discussion:
In medical discourse, several types of message content funtions are distinguished: informative, emotive, directive, motivational, and therapeutic to influence patients’ emotional state. These discourse skills and associated motivational, volitional, and social abilities to use problem-solving successfully and responsibly, impact compliance, adherence, and concordance process.
Conclusions:
Efficient communication in medicine consists of several important competencies, but in order to be properly developed, mastering linguistic communicative competence is neccessary. Mastering them jointly with medical expertise is essential for helathcare professionals.
Physician–patient relationship has evolved from paternalistic model to cooperative one, known as patient-centered, where patients are experts on themselves in the socio-psychological, cultural, and material contexts. This transformed role has led physicians to adapt their highly specialized knowledge to effective communication pattern which is now a focal point in achieving therapeutic relationships in clinical context. Communicative competencies are of particular importance in medical practice and teaching medicine. Educational background derives from theories and foundations of linguistics and psycholinguistics.
Aim:
The article presents main linguistic communicative theories that highly influence communicative competencies in medicine. It provides pragmatic guide to what is achieved from the principles of linguistic communicative competence in the current patient-centered model of communication in healthcare.
Material and methods:
Most important linguistic theories that have their applicative use in teaching medical communication are presented. It is a part of a larger project aimed at bridging the gap between linguistic principles and clinical practice.
Results and discussion:
In medical discourse, several types of message content funtions are distinguished: informative, emotive, directive, motivational, and therapeutic to influence patients’ emotional state. These discourse skills and associated motivational, volitional, and social abilities to use problem-solving successfully and responsibly, impact compliance, adherence, and concordance process.
Conclusions:
Efficient communication in medicine consists of several important competencies, but in order to be properly developed, mastering linguistic communicative competence is neccessary. Mastering them jointly with medical expertise is essential for helathcare professionals.
FUNDING
Not declared.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Not declared.
REFERENCES (40)
1.
Chomsky N. On Nature and Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2002. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO978....
2.
Longa VM. Noam Chomsky and Linguistics. In: Shackelford TK, Weekes-Shackelford VA, eds. Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Cham: Springer. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-....
3.
Chomsky N. Some simple evo devo theses: How true might they be for language? In: Larson R, Déprez V, Yamakido H, eds. The Evolution of Human Language: Biolinguistic Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2010:45–62. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO978....
4.
Ambridge B, Lieven EVM. Language Acquisition: Contrasting theoretical approaches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2011.
7.
Hale K. Linguistic Theory: Generative Grammar. In: Flynn S, O’Neil W, eds. Linguistic Theory in Second Language Acquisition. Studies in Theoretical Psycholinguistics. Dordrecht: Springer. 1988;8. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94....
8.
Chomsky N. Knowledge of language: Its nature, origin, and use. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Publishing Group. 1986.
9.
Hymes D. The concept of communicative competence revisited. In: Pütz M, ed. Thirty Years of Linguistic Evolution. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. 1992:31–57. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.61.0....
10.
Cazden CB. Dell Hymes’s construct of “communicative competence”. Anthropol Educ Q. 2011;42(4):364–369. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548....
11.
Paulston CB. Linguistic and communicative competence. TESOL Q. 1974;8(4):347–362. https://doi.org/10.2307/358546....
12.
Hymes D. On communicative competence. In: Pride JB, Holmes J, eds. Sociolinguistics: Selected Readings. Harmondsworth: Penguin. 1972:269–293.
13.
Canale M, Swain M. A Theoretical framework for communicative competence. In: Palmer AS, Groot PJ, Trosper SA, eds. The Construct Validation of Tests of Communicative Competence. Washington, DC: TESOL 1981:31–36.
14.
Canale M. The measurement of communicative competence. Annu Rev Appl Linguist. 1987;8:67–84. https://doi.org/10.1017/S02671....
15.
Spolsky B. Communicative competence, language proficiency, and beyond. Appl Linguist. 1989;10(2):138–156. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin....
16.
Eadie WF, Paulson JW. Communicator attitudes, communicator style, and communication competence. West J Speech Comm. 1984;48(4):390–407. https://doi.org/10.1080/105703....
17.
Bachman LF, Palmer AS. The construct validation of some components of communicative proficiency. TESOL Q. 1982;16(4):449–465. https://doi.org/10.2307/358646....
18.
Bachman LF. What is the construct? The dialectic of abilities and contexts in defining constructs in language assessment. In: Fox J, Wesche M, Bayliss D, Cheng L, Turner CE, Doe C, eds. Language Testing Reconsidered. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. 2007:41–71.
19.
Kurtz SM. Doctor-patient communication: principles and practices. Can J Neurol Sci. 2002;29(S2):S23–S29. https://doi.org/10.1017/s03171....
20.
Kurtz S, Silverman J, Benson J, Draper J. Marrying content and process in clinical method teaching: enhancing the Calgary–Cambridge guides. Acad Med. 2003;78(8):802–809. https://doi.org/10.1097/000018....
21.
Ruben BD. Communication theory and health communication practice: The more things change, the more they stay the same. Health Commun. 2016;31(1):1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/104102....
22.
Boykins AD. Core communication competences in patient-centered care. ABNF J. 2014;25(2):40–45.
23.
Hargie O. Skill in theory: Communication as skilled performance. In: Hargie O, ed. The handbook of communication skills. 3rd Ed. London:Routledge 2006:7–36.
24.
Hargie O. Training in communication skills: Research, theory and practice. In: Hargie O, ed. The handbook of communication skills. 3rd Ed. London:Routledge 2006:551–565.
25.
Kwame A, Petrucka PM. A literature-based study of patient-centered care and communication in nurse-patient interactions: barriers, facilitators, and the way forward. BMC Nurs. 2021;158:20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912....
26.
Ratna H. The importance of effective communication in healthcare practice. Harv Public Health Rev (Camb). 2019;23:1–6.
27.
Chichirez CM, Purcărea VL. Interpersonal communication in healthcare. J Med Life. 2018;11(2):119.
28.
Street Jr RL, Makoul G, Arora NK, Epstein RM. How does communication heal? Pathways linking clinician–patient communication to health outcomes. Patient Educ Couns. 2009;74(3):295–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.....
29.
Silverman J. Teaching clinical communication: A mainstream activity or just a minority sport? Patient Educ Couns. 2009;76(3):361–367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.....
30.
Kurtz S, Draper J, Silverman J. Teaching and Learning Communication Skills in Medicine. London:CRC Press. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1201/978131....
31.
Chomsky N, McGilvray J. Language, function, communication: Language and the use of language. In: Chomsky N. The Science of Language: Interviews with James McGilvray. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2012:11–20. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO978....
32.
Kohler K. Speech Communication in Human Interaction. In: Communicative Functions and Linguistic Forms in Speech Interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2017:1–17. https://doi.org/10.1017/978131....
33.
Gutzmann D. The expressive function of language’. In: The Grammar of Expressivity. Oxford: Oxford Academic. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/97....
34.
Kowalczyk O. Medical communication as a type of linguistic communication in terms of selected linguistic theories [in Polish]. In: Pujer K, ed. Humanities and social sciences: experiences, contexts, challenges. Wrocław:Exante. 2018;6:91–101.
35.
Tribus Angela C. The Communicative Functions of Language: An Exploration of Roman Jakobson’s Theory in TESOL. MA TESOL Collection. 2017;723.
36.
Wade DT, Halligan PW. Do biomedical models of illness make for good healthcare systems? BMJ. 2004;329(7479):1398–401. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.32....
37.
Curran J. The doctor, his patient and the Illness. BMJ. 2007;335(7626):941. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39....
38.
Pietroni P. The doctor, his patient and the illness: Michael Balint. Br J Psychiatry. 1989;155(1):134–138. https://doi.org/10.1192/S00071....
39.
Balint M. The doctor, his patient and the illness. Lancet. 1995;265(6866):683–638. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-....
40.
Kiessling C, Fabry G. What is communicative competence and how can it be acquired? GMS J Med Educ. 2021;38(3):Doc49. https://doi.org/10.3205%2Fzma0....
| ISSN: | 1730-9980 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
