Book contents
- Elasticity in Healthcare Communication
- Elasticity in Healthcare Communication
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Theoretical Foundations
- 3 Methodology
- 4 Elastic Language Used in Chinese
- 5 Elastic Language Used in English
- 6 Comparison between Chinese and English Regarding Elastic Language Use
- 7 Perceptions of and Attitudes Towards the Use of Elastic Language in Chinese
- 8 Perceptions of and Attitudes towards the Use of Elastic Language in English
- 9 Comparison between Chinese and English Regarding Participants’ Feedback
- 10 General Discussion
- 11 Conclusions and Implications
- Book part
- References
- Author Index
- Subject Index
7 - Perceptions of and Attitudes Towards the Use of Elastic Language in Chinese
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2022
- Elasticity in Healthcare Communication
- Elasticity in Healthcare Communication
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Theoretical Foundations
- 3 Methodology
- 4 Elastic Language Used in Chinese
- 5 Elastic Language Used in English
- 6 Comparison between Chinese and English Regarding Elastic Language Use
- 7 Perceptions of and Attitudes Towards the Use of Elastic Language in Chinese
- 8 Perceptions of and Attitudes towards the Use of Elastic Language in English
- 9 Comparison between Chinese and English Regarding Participants’ Feedback
- 10 General Discussion
- 11 Conclusions and Implications
- Book part
- References
- Author Index
- Subject Index
Summary
This chapter investigates whether Taiwanese university students find EL in health information difficult. On average, approximately 90% of them did not have difficulty understanding EL while about 10% of them did. The rates of difficulty appear to increase with the severity of the health condition. Furthermore, the higher the number of different elastic terms intensively used in the excerpt, the more difficulty the participants experience in understanding EL. Based on interviews with approximately 20 participants, we address what may cause the difficulty and identify six reasons (e.g., unfulfilled expectation of specific information, semantic fuzziness combined with insufficient health literacy, unclear instructions that do not match the needs of the patient and family, increased vagueness caused by the intensive use of EL). In order to understand participants’ attitudes towards EL and non-EL, we analysed the participants’ written feedback as to why they preferred EL or non-EL in the health context. Six frames were identified, each with two orientations. Four of the most frequently activated frames are communication, folk–idiosyncratic, trust–scepticism, and voluntary–involuntary action. Two social factors (i.e., gender and age) in relation to Taiwanese participants’ perceptions of and attitudes towards EL are also addressed.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Elasticity in Healthcare CommunicationA Cross-Cultural Perspective, pp. 125 - 159Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022