A Discourse-Pragmatic Study of Selected Doctor- Patient Interaction in Selected Hospital Departments in Owerri Municipal

Abstract

Mediated communication or mediated interaction refers to communication carried out with the use of information communication technology. A few studies have been carried out on doctor-patient interaction, focusing on politeness strategies and discourse tacts, especially in southwestern Nigeria. However, not much attention has been paid to doctor-patient interaction in medical facilities in the Eastern part of Nigeria. This paper therefore explores doctor-patient interaction in selected hospital departments in Owerri municipal, Imo State, Nigeria, from the pragma-discursive perspective. Recorded interactions between doctors and patients were got from different departments in the medical facilities. A total of ten interactions were recorded and reference was made to eight. Data were subjected to Harvey, Schegloff and Jefferson’s model of Conversational Analysis (CA). At the end of the analysis, it was discovered that speakers took their turns mainly by nomination except in few cases where they self- select after their turns. It was also possible for interactants to identify the transition relevant places where the next speaker takes over, although there are few cases of overlapping. The study concludes that doctor-patient interactions in the hospital, though institutional centered conversation are sequentially organized and directed towards carrying out official tasks such as diagnosing illness and proffering treatment.