A cognitive-pragmatic study on understanding empathy through question-answer sequences in medical discourses in Japan

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K12387
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 02060:Linguistics-related
• Research Institution: Kansai Gaidai University
• Principal Investigator: Goto Risa 関西外国語大学, 英語国際学部, 准教授 (00712100)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 医療場面の会話 / 談話分析 / 情動表出と理解 / 質問－応答のインタラクション / 共感的コミュニケーション

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to clarify, using linguistic methods, what types of questions and responses in a medical discourse in Japanese are effective in constructing empathetic communication between a medical professional and a patient. Pertinent results will be applied back to the medical field. We analyzed conversations recorded in medical settings by using a fusion of cognitive-pragmatic theoretical framework and other linguistic perspectives, including anthropological, and phenomenological interpretative perspectives. The findings identified typical conversational patterns related to constructing empathetic communication between a medical professional and a patient. Those patterns were linguistically analyzed based on the types of questions and responses. The results of the analysis were reviewed from an educational point of view with our research collaborators.

Free Research Field

語用論

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

医療現場で求められる共感的コミュニケーションの手法として、医療人類学や現象学的な解釈的視点はよく知られるところである。一方、本研究で主軸としている認知語用論の理論（主に関連性理論）の適用は新しい視点であり、そうした複数の言語理論を融合的に用いた分析の結果を医療従事者や医療系大学の教員たちと共有することで、①患者とのコミュニケーション上の問題解決への糸口となり得る、②医療系大学の学生たちへのコミュニケーション教育に役立てることができる、という二つの点での医療現場への還元を期待できる。