Patient-Directed Politeness Strategy Preferences in Clinical Visits Setting in Kuwait

Authors

  • Nushour Alduaij

    Department of English Language and Literature, Kuwait University, Kuwait
  • Anwar Almuoseb

    Department of English Language and Literature, Kuwait University, Kuwait
  • Eiman Alsharhan

    Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Kuwait University, Kuwait

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v6i5.7010
Received: 7 August 2024 | Revised: 3 September 2024 | Accepted: 9 September 2024 | Published Online: 15 November 2024

Abstract

The vital context of Doctor–Patient communication is being abundantly researched to improve its outcomes. However, existing studies either focus on the doctor’s perspective and pay little attention to the patient or focus on patients’ satisfaction in relation to biomedical aspects, such as the doctors’ clinical skills and the services provided in the healthcare institution. Research focusing on doctors’ communicative skills provides a generalized discussion, under friendly attitude and communication style, lacking affiliation to a language-related theory. The current study investigates utterances produced by General Practitioner (GP) doctors in clinical visits in Kuwait, assessing the preferences of Kuwaiti patients in relation to three linguistic politeness strategies: direct, positive-politeness, and negative-politeness, as delineated in Brown and Levinson’s infamous Politeness Theory. The current study further investigates the effect of sociolinguistic variables such as age and gender on patients’ preferences. Overall, patients preferred negative-politeness in situations where the doctor instructs, proposes a referral visit, delivers potentially worrying news, or proposes changes to patient’s care plan. In situations requiring medical advice or psychological support, the patients preferred positive-politeness. The direct approach was relatively least preferred.

Keywords:

Doctor–Patient Communication; Politeness Strategies; Direct Strategies; Negative-Politeness Strategies; Positive-Politeness Strategies

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How to Cite

Alduaij, N., Anwar Almuoseb, & Alsharhan, E. (2024). Patient-Directed Politeness Strategy Preferences in Clinical Visits Setting in Kuwait. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 6(5), 874–888. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v6i5.7010

Issue

Vol. 6 , Iss. 5 (November 2024)

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Article

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Copyright © 2024 Moussa Diagne Faye, Vini Yves Bernadin Loyara, Amadou Keita, Mamadou Diop, Angelbert Chabi Biaou, Mahamadou Koita, Hamma Yacouba

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