1. Full name: Nguyen Thanh Nga                                                                2. Sex: Female

3. Date of birth: 02/06/1978                                                                   

4. Place of birth: Hanoi

5. Admission Decision number: 299/QĐ-ĐHNN                   Dated: 19/01/2015

6. Changes in academic process: The thesis title

7. Official thesis title: Doctor talk at consultancy in English and Vietnamese: An interpersonal comparison

8. Major: English linguistics                                                                   9. Code: 9220201.01

10. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Van                

11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:

In terms of theory, the current study uses interpersonal resources of mood and modality of SFL to compare interpersonal meanings found in English and Vietnamese doctor talks, it so far justifies how interpersonal resources, deployed in English, are distinctive to the Vietnamese language. Although the scope of the current study only focuses on the language of doctor and its interpersonal meanings, interpersonal resources of lexico-grammar of mood and modality in the Vietnamese language greatly benefits from the findings of the study. Although the present study limits itself to distinguish lexical realisations of word components between English and Vietnamese (e.g. reduplicate and compound words), it provides a large number of lexical choices realized in mood clauses that enable to inspire further studies on other languages.

In terms of teaching methodology, the current study has contributed richly authentic teaching materials relating to communicative language teaching of medical consultation. Thus, a mixed syllabus of text-based and authentic-based approaches provides much practical knowledge of doctor-patient interactions. Lessons of morality introduced with evidence of real-life consultations will help medical students overcome the linguistic and strategic challenges of interaction with patients. Thus, these difficulties are normally caused by the differences between what students have been taught and what he/she witnesses in real-life situations. The study has a rich authentic source of doctor-patient consultations which can prepare leaners with effective styles of communication outside classroom. This authentic discourse, taken from internet sources and from real-life contexts, can provide medical students with vivid illustrations, evidences and suggestions of an effective model of consultation -  patient-centeredness.

12. Practical applicability, if any: The current study has made a great contribution to helping the doctor to consider authority power when interacting with patients. This study not only confirms the necessity of change in medical discourse which previous researches have shown, but also proposes evidence of benefits may bring to the movement in the Vietnamese doctor talk. In other words, the doctor’s power lying behind discourse in reciprocal consultations should take the patients’ concerns and expectations into account. This study has enlightened medical educators to be more aware of the insufficiencies and limitations of training and experience. Precisely, linguistic educators of medical languages can take advantages of theoretical background of mood and modality of interpersonal resources to instruct student doctors to practise a polite and intimate language of communication with patients.

13. Further research directions, if any: As the current study only uses mood and modality resources of the mood system to interpret interpersonal meanings in doctor talk. Therefore, it would be more interesting if other issues related to lexico-grammatical choices reflecting interpersonal meanings would be supplemented. A study could use the untouched issues in this study such as verbal groups of transitivity system to understand doctor’s registers that create interpersonal features. Another recommendation for the further study is to investigate non-verbal communications such as gestures, facial expressions, body languages found in doctor talk at consultation because they are exponentially crucial for research studies of oral communication.

14. Thesis-related publications:

Nga, T. N. (2017), Doctor-patient power relation: a systemic functional analysis of a doctor-patient consultation”, VNU Journal Foreign Studies, 33(3), pp. 24-43. 

Nga, T. N. (2018), “Doctor-patient interaction at a consultancy room: a case study in Australia”, VNU Journal Foreign Studies, 34(1), pp. 154-177.