A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Doctor-Patient Conversations In Selected Rural Hospitals In Kaduna State

📄 Project Abstract

The use of language in human communication is predicated on social relationships; hence when people converse, they are always aware of the social relationship which determines who controls and directs the conversation. This study focuses on doctor-patient conversations in rural areas. It investigates how language is employed as a tool of social dominance in doctor-patient conversations in selected rural hospitals in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The aim is to examine and understand the nature of doctor-patient conversations in the selected rural hospitals in order to reveal the underlying power struggle. The study employs the theoretical paradigm of Fairclough's (1989) Discourse as Social Practice which is used to analyse the data. A total of twenty (20) conversations between doctors and patients are recorded, translated and transcribed. Twenty (20) patients are also interviewed in order to determine the level of patient satisfaction and Five (5) different doctor-patient conversations are sel...