Interpersonal Functions Of Questions By Doctors In Doctor-patient Conversations

As an indispensable part of medical practice, doctor-patient conversation is drawing more and more attention in the field of sociology, psychology and linguistics. Little attention, however, has been paid to the interpersonal aspect of the conversation between doctors and patients, which is regarded as one of the most complex interpersonal relationships. Being dominant in the interaction, doctors'words, mainly in the form of questions, deserve more studies. especially for the interpersonal functions delivered.By combining functional grammar with research on questions of doctors, this study explores the following questions:(1) Is functional grammar applicable in analyzing doctor-patient conversations in Chinese? (2) How is the interpersonal function realized in doctors" questions?After a detailed qualitative analysis of the data. we obtained the following findings: (1) With some adjustments. functional grammar is applicable to doctor-patient conversations in Chinese. (2) In the mood system. the interpersonal functions of questions are embodied through the interrogative mood which consists of wh-questions. yes/no questions and alternative questions. And modality is realized by means of modal verbs. modal adjuncts and metaphors of modality. (3) Within mood. wh-questions of doctors bear stronger interpersonal functions than other types by leaving greater space of interaction. (4) Due to the intrinsic asymmetry of power between doctors and patients, modulation in modality system is not as significant as modalization in realizing interpersonal functions of questions by doctors.The thesis falls into five parts. Chapter One makes a general introduction to the study, covering research background, purpose and significance, as well as research methodology. Chapter Two reviews previous studies of doctor-patient communication, questions and interpersonal function, and then puts forward research questions. Chapter Three provides the theoretical foundation of the study. Chapter Four, the main body of the thesis, conducts a close and comprehensive analysis of the interpersonal functions of questions by doctors in doctor-patient conversations. Finally, Chapter Five concludes the thesis with major findings, implications, limitations and prospects of the study.