This book reports the results of a linguistic analysis of reflective written texts, produced during medical education or practice. It explores the topics and communication skills the authors write about, how the narratives develop, how these texts are shaped, what genres influence their composition, how relational work surfaces in them and how the writers linguistically create their identities as experts or novices. It is clear that both experienced and trainee medics grapple with the place of emotions in their communicative acts, and with the idea of what it means to be a doctor. The book makes a valuable contribution to genre analysis, interpersonal pragmatics and the study of linguistic identity construction, and will be essential reading for those involved in teaching doctor-patient communication skills.

Miriam A. Locher is Professor of the Linguistics of English, University of Basel, Switzerland. She is co-editor (with Franziska Gygax) of Narrative Matters in Medical Contexts across Disciplines (2015, John Benjamins) and co-editor (with Andreas H. Jucker) of Pragmatics of Fiction (2017, de Gruyter).

1. Reflective Writing in Medical Practice

2. Context and Data

3. The Choice of Themes: On Communication Strategies and Challenging Situations

4. Communication Skills in Action: From Keeping Eye Contact to Creating Rapport

5. Reflective Writing as Genre: A Text Linguistic Perspective

6. Interpersonal Pragmatics in Reflective Writing

7. Interpersonal Pragmatics and Identity Construction

8. Conclusions

Appendices

References

Subject Index

Author Index

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