Displaying recipiency in doctor-patient conversations

Abstract A doctor’s ability to communicate with patients to ensure high-quality health care and the limited spoken materials available to teach this ability in a Chinese for Medical Purpose class call for teaching pedagogies that include authentic doctor-patient conversations to allow the access to the type of language data that properly define language use in medical professional settings. This paper introduces a teaching lesson for a Chinese for Medical Purpose course in which students are provided with a real doctor-patient conversation and guided to explore the doctor’s various ways of displaying recipiency of information from the patient as well as the socio-cultural meanings behind them. Six in-class and out-of-class activities are described in detail which include reflection on English recipient styles, comparison and analysis of Chinese and English spoken data, discussion on the social-cultural meanings and application of the learned recipient styles in oral practice. Issues and recommendations of designing and implementing the lesson plan as well as the outcomes of the lesson are discussed.