Speech Acts in Medical Communication: A Study of Doctor-Patient Interaction

Abstract

        This paper analyzes the speech acts of doctors and patients and scrutinizes the kinds of speech acts available or potentially produced with regard to their variations: directives, assertives, expressives, and assurances. It relates them to patient outcomes by using a mixed-method approach where discourse analysis of naturally occurring medical interactions is conducted to explore the use of speech acts across different contexts when diagnosing, explaining the treatment, or giving emotional reassurance to the patient. The results clarify that clear directives have to be accompanied, indeed, by explanations, which highly improve the adherence of patients to the treatment. Assurances are also important in handling the anxiety of patients and in establishing their trust, which is particularly required in situations where emotional involvement is high. Moreover, it was found that the doctors provide more empathic reassurance, which influences patients' anxiety levels and confidence in the medical process. The overall contribution of this research is to the understanding of how speech acts function in institutional discourse, offering insights that can improve communication strategies in medical practice with a view to bettering patient care