A Pragmatic Probe Into Doctor-patient Discourse Patterns:Social Phenomenological Perspective

Since the 20th century,the domestic medical system has developed quickly and medical capacity has grown rapidly,but along with this,there has been a high level of tension in the relationship between doctors and patients,which currently shows a situation of harmony overall and tension locally.The main source of problems between doctors and patients is the communication disharmony between medical workers and patients,therefore,it is necessary and meaningful to analyze and discuss the doctorpatient discourse in depth.As an important factor influencing the doctor-patient relationship,the doctorpatient discourse has always received widespread attention from society,and scholars at home and abroad have tried to analyze and explore doctor-patient discourse from various disciplines and perspectives.For example,studies have been conducted from linguistic,psychological,sociological and communication perspectives,and different research perspectives have presented different results.However,most of the previous studies have first judged whether doctors’ and patients’ words follow a certain guideline and have given certain recommendations based on that judgment.The above studies have contributed to the de-escalation of the doctor-patient relationship,but language cannot be prescribed,i.e.a universal linguistic code will never exist.Schutz’s life-world theory is a return of philosophy from abstract ideas to the “life-world” of the real world,and an in-depth discussion of it is conducive to bringing philosophy into the real world,while an analysis of doctor-patient discourse through life-world theory is conducive to providing a cultural fulcrum for the establishment of a better doctor-patient relationship.Only by analyzing the deeper motives of the characteristics of doctor-patient discourse can we truly give feasible suggestions for the communication between doctors and patients.Therefore,this thesis focuses on explaining the essential causes of the characteristics of doctor-patient discourse based on life-world theory.The main research questions of this thesis are as follows.(1)What are the typological characteristics of doctor-patient discourse and the factors that influence it?(2)What are the hermeneutic mechanisms of doctor-patient discourse?Based on life-world theory,this thesis uses a qualitative analysis method to discuss the discourse between doctors and patients in detail.Firstly,the study analyzes previous research on doctor-patient communication and compares the academic value and shortcomings of their studies.Then it analyzes the main elements and merits of the lifeworld theory and classifies the discourses between doctors and patients in a tendency-oriented manner.Finally,the reasons for the characteristics of doctor-patient discourse are analyzed and some feasible suggestions are made.The results show three possible orientations between health staff and patients:mutual orientation,patient-single orientation and doctor-single orientation.Poor communication between doctors and patients occurs in all three orientations,and inequality of power between doctors and patients,excessive information gap between doctors and patients,and loss of control of patient’s emotions are the reasons for the failure of communication between doctors and patients in the mutual orientation;patients’ stereotype of doctors is the reason for the failure of doctor-patient communication under the one-way direction of doctors;patients’ disregard for the hospital system and overloading of hospitals are the reasons for the failure of doctorpatient communication under the single direction of patients.Based on the above analysis,the article makes feasible suggestions for subsequent research on doctorpatient discourse,such as conducting a multi-level analysis of doctor-patient discourse from other perspectives;covering as many representative departments as possible when conducting doctor-patient discourse analysis;conducting a doctor-patient discourse analysis to cover as many representative sections as possible;compare and contrast the discourses of doctors and patients at home and abroad;making discourse analysis to differentiate levels and categories of conversation participants,such as cultural level,social status,age and gender.Based on life-world theory,this thesis aims to put forward feasible suggestions for the establishment of a stable doctor-patient relationship through an in-depth analysis of doctor-patient discourse and provide a new perspective on pragmatic analysis of discourse,which can promote the development of an equal and mutually beneficial relationship between doctors and patients.