Skip to main content
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Putting the plain into pain language in English for Medical Purposes: Learner inquiry into patients’ online descriptive accounts

  • Anna Franca Plastina is a tenured researcher of English language and linguistics at the University of Calabria, Italy, where she teaches ESP to pharmacy undergraduates and medical postgraduates. Her research interests are mainly in discourse analysis, LSP, CALL and psycholinguistics, fields in which she has contributed to several national and international publications.

    EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: May 3, 2016

Abstract

The need to teach medical students plain language for their future engagement in pain communication can no longer be underestimated. Pain education has traditionally neglected the teaching of pain language, yet patients’ descriptive accounts have been acknowledged as the standard in medical care. English for Medical Purposes (EMP) can make its contribution to tertiary pain education, especially at a time when the plain language paradigm is considered key for health literacy. This is not to say that teaching specialized language and plain language for specific purposes are mutually exclusive. Yet, developing EMP learners’ understanding of the use of authentic plain pain language is also crucial for their future professional practice. This study reports on a pedagogical experiment conducted with the aim of enhancing EMP learners’ understanding of the lexico-grammatical features of pain language in patients’ descriptive accounts and in the use of pain assessment tools. The experiment was framed by the Hallidayan lexico-grammatical model of pain. Following a data-driven learning approach, students compiled a small DIY corpus of accounts from online health support groups and exploited its direct use through corpus-based tasks. These were designed to facilitate learners’ understanding of the features of pain language and of patients’ use of pain descriptors related to those in the McGill Pain assessment tool currently employed in medical care. Learners further broadened their understanding of pain language in other contexts of use while taking notes to fulfil the designed tasks. These helped shed light on the pedagogical practice here proposed.

About the author

Anna Franca Plastina

Anna Franca Plastina is a tenured researcher of English language and linguistics at the University of Calabria, Italy, where she teaches ESP to pharmacy undergraduates and medical postgraduates. Her research interests are mainly in discourse analysis, LSP, CALL and psycholinguistics, fields in which she has contributed to several national and international publications.

References

Allan, Rachel. 2009. Can a graded reader corpus provide “authentic” input? English Language Teaching Journal 63(1). 23–32.10.1093/elt/ccn011Search in Google Scholar

APPEAL (Advancing the Provision of Pain Education and Learning) taskforce. 2013. A blueprint for pain education. http://www.efic.org/userfiles/APPEALmediareport.pdf (accessed 2 February 2015).Search in Google Scholar

Bernardini, Silvia. 2002. Exploring new directions for discovery learning. In Bernhard Kettemann & Georg Marko (eds.), Teaching and learning by doing corpus analysis. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Teaching and Language Corpora (Graz 19–24 July 2000), 165–182. Amsterdam: Rodopi.10.1163/9789004334236_015Search in Google Scholar

Biro, David. 2010. The language of pain: Finding words, compassion and relief. New York: Norton.Search in Google Scholar

Biro, David. 2013. When language runs dry: Pain, the imagination and metaphor. In Lisa F. Käll (ed.), Dimensions of pain: Humanities and social science perspectives, 13–26. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Bittner, Anja, Ansgar Jonietz, Johannes Bittner, Luise Beickert & Sigrid Harendza. 2015. Translating medical documents into plain language enhances communication skills in medical students: A pilot study. Patient Education and Counseling 98(9). 1137–1141.10.1016/j.pec.2015.05.024Search in Google Scholar

Chambers, Angela. 2005. Integrating corpus consultation in language studies. Language Learning & Technology 9(2). 111–125.Search in Google Scholar

Charlton, J. Edmond (ed.). 2005. Core curriculum for professional education in pain. Washington: IASP.Search in Google Scholar

Clarke, Kathryn & Ron Iphofen. 2005. Believing the patient with chronic pain: A review of the literature. British Journal of Nursing 14(9). 490–493.10.12968/bjon.2005.14.9.18073Search in Google Scholar

Cobb, Tom. 1999. Breadth and depth of lexical acquisition with hands-on concordancing. Computer Assisted Language Learning 12(4). 345–360.10.1076/call.12.4.345.5699Search in Google Scholar

Dudley-Evans, Tony & Maggie Jo St John. 1998. Developments in English for Specific Purposes: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Epstein, Ronald & Francesc Borrell-Carrio. 2005. The biopsychosocial model: Exploring six impossible things. Families, Systems, & Health 23(4). 426–431.10.1037/1091-7527.23.4.426Search in Google Scholar

Fabrega, Henri-François & Stephen Tyma. 1976. Culture, language, and the shaping of illness: An illustration based on pain. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 20(4). 323–337.10.1016/0022-3999(76)90084-2Search in Google Scholar

Flowerdew, John. 2013. Discourse in English language education. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203080870Search in Google Scholar

Gilquin, Gaëtanelle & Sylviane Granger. 2010. How can data-driven learning be used in language teaching. In Anne O’Keeffe & Michael McCarthy (eds.), The Routledge handbook of corpus linguistics, 359–370. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203856949-26Search in Google Scholar

Gotti, Maurizio. 2003. Specialized discourse: Linguistic features and changing conventions. Bern: Peter Lang.Search in Google Scholar

Guha, Debashis. 2007. An inquiry into the cases of pain and suffering. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company.Search in Google Scholar

Guillemin, Marilys & Emma Barnard. 2015. George Libman Engel: The biopsychosocial model and the construction of medical practice. In Fran Collyer (ed.), The Palgrave handbook of social theory in health, illness and medicine, 236–249. New York: Palgrave-Macmillan.10.1057/9781137355621_15Search in Google Scholar

Halliday, Michael A. K. 1998. On the grammar of pain. Functions of Language 5(1). 1–32.10.1075/fol.5.1.02halSearch in Google Scholar

Harvey, Kevin & Svenja Adolphs. 2012. Discourse and healthcare. In James P. Gee & Michael Handford (eds.), The Routledge handbook of discourse analysis, 470–481. New York: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Hess, Jean & Julia S. Whelan. 2009. Making health literacy real: Adult literacy and medical students teach each other. Journal of the Medical Library Association 97(3). 221–224.10.3163/1536-5050.97.3.012Search in Google Scholar

Hutchinson, Tom & Alan Waters. 1987. English for Specific Purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511733031Search in Google Scholar

Johns, Tim. 1991. Should you be persuaded: Two samples of data driven learning materials. English Language Research Journal 4(1). 1–16.Search in Google Scholar

Johns, Tim. 1994. From printout to handout: Grammar and vocabulary teaching in the context of data-driven learning. In Terence Odlin (ed.), Perspectives on pedagogical grammar, 293–313. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139524605.014Search in Google Scholar

Käll, Lisa F. 2013. Intercorporeality and the sharability of pain. In Lisa F. Käll, (ed.), Dimensions of pain: Humanities and social science perspectives, 27–40. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Lascaratou, Chryssoula. 2007. The language of pain: Expression or description? Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/celcr.9Search in Google Scholar

Leech, Geoffrey. 1997. Teaching and language corpora: A convergence. In Anne Wichmann, Steven Fligelstone, Tony McEnery & Gerry Knowles (eds.), Teaching and language corpora, 1–23. London: Longman.10.4324/9781315842677-1Search in Google Scholar

Little, David, Seán Devitt & David Singleton. 1989. Learning foreign languages from authentic texts: Theory and practice. Dublin: Authentik Language Learning Resources.Search in Google Scholar

Littlewood, William. 1999. Defining and developing autonomy in East Asian contexts. Applied Linguistics 20(1). 71–94.10.1093/applin/20.1.71Search in Google Scholar

McEnery, Tony & Richard Xiao. 2011. What corpora can offer in language teaching and learning. In Eli Hinkel (ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning, 364–380. London: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

McCaffery, Margo. 1968. Nursing practice theories related to cognition, bodily pain, and man-environment. Los Angeles: UCLA Students’ Store.Search in Google Scholar

Melzack, Ronald. 1975. The McGill Pain Questionnaire: Major properties and scoring methods. Pain 1(3). 277–299.10.1016/0304-3959(75)90044-5Search in Google Scholar

Melzack, Ronald. 1987. The short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire. Pain 30(2). 191–197.10.1037/t04167-000Search in Google Scholar

Melzack, Ronald & Kenneth L. Casey.1968. Sensory motivational and central control determinants of pain: A new conceptual model. In Dan Kenshalo (ed.), The Skin Senses, 423–443. Springfield, Ill: Thomas.Search in Google Scholar

Melzack, Ronald & Joel Katz. 2011 [1992]. The McGill Pain Questionnaire. In Dennis Turk and Ronald Melzack (eds.), Handbook of pain assessment, 3rd edn, 45–66. New York: Guilford Press.Search in Google Scholar

Menz, Florian & Johanna Lalouschek. 2006. “I just can’t tell you how much it hurts”: Gender-specific differences in the description of chest pain. In Maurizio Gotti & Françoise Salager-Meyer (eds.), Advances in medical discourse analysis: Oral and written contexts, 133–154. Bern: Peter Lang.Search in Google Scholar

Merskey, Harold. 1979. Pain terms: A list with definitions and notes on usage recommended by the IASP subcommittee on taxonomy. Pain 6(3). 249–252.Search in Google Scholar

Notcutt, William & Gerda Gibbs. 2010. Inadequate pain management: Myth, stigma and professional fear. Postgraduate Medical Journal 86(1018). 453–458.10.1136/pgmj.2008.077677Search in Google Scholar

Osborne, John. 2001. Integrating corpora into a language-learning syllabus. In Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.), PALC 2001: Practical applications in language corpora, 479–492. Frankfurt: Peter LangSearch in Google Scholar

Plastina, Anna Franca. 2014. Self-construction of legislative discourse through mashups: A multi-perspective analysis. In Vijay Bhatia, Giuliana Garzone, Rita Salvi, Girolamo Tessuto & Christopher Williams (eds.), Language and law in professional discourse: Issues and perspectives, 46–60. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Search in Google Scholar

Plastina, Anna Franca. 2015. Patient (mis)understanding of prescription drug ads in social media: Multimodal discourse analysis of eDTCA. In Maurizio Gotti, Stefania M. Maci & Michele Sala (eds.), Insights into medical communication, 189–212. Bern: Peter Lang.Search in Google Scholar

Rubin, Donald. 2014. Applied linguistics as a resource for understanding and advancing health literacy. In Heidi Hamilton & Wen-ying Sylvia Chou (eds.), The Routledge handbook of language and health communication, 153–167. New York: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Salager-Meyer, Françoise. 2014. Origin and development of English for Medical Purposes, part I: Research on written medical discourse. Medical Writing 23(1). 49–51.10.1179/2047480613Z.000000000187Search in Google Scholar

Sarangi, Srikant. 2004. Editorial: Towards a communicative mentality in medical and healthcare practice. Communication & Medicine 1(1). 1–11.10.1515/come.2004.002Search in Google Scholar

Selby, Martha A. 2007. Discussion: The dislocation, representation and communication of pain. In Sarah Coakley & Kay Kaufman Shelemay (eds.), Pain and its transformations: The interface of biology and culture, 351–362. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Sinclair, John M. 2004. Trust the text. Language, corpus and discourse. London: Routledge.10.4324/9780203594070Search in Google Scholar

Sussex, Roland. 2009. The language of pain in applied linguistics: Review article of Chryssoula Lascaratou’s The language of pain (Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2007). Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 32(1). 6.1–6.14.10.2104/aral0906Search in Google Scholar

Taavitsainen Irma. 2006. Medical communication, lingua francas. In Keith Brown (ed.), Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 643–644. Oxford: Elsevier.10.1016/B0-08-044854-2/02356-7Search in Google Scholar

Tauben, David J. & John D. Loeser. 2013. Pain education at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Journal of Pain. 14(5). 431–437.10.1016/j.jpain.2013.01.005Search in Google Scholar

Tellier, Pierre-Paul, Emmanuelle Bélanger, Charo Rodríguez, Mark A. Ware & Nancy Posel. 2013. Improving undergraduate medical education about pain assessment and management: A qualitative descriptive study of stakeholders’ perceptions. Pain Research & Management 18(5). 259–265.10.1155/2013/920961Search in Google Scholar

Waddie, Nicola A. 1996. Language and pain expression. Journal of Advanced Nursing 23(5). 868–872.10.1046/j.1365-2648.1996.01072.xSearch in Google Scholar

Welchek, Cynthia, Lisa Mastrangelo, Raymond S. Sinatra & Richard Martinez. 2009. Qualitative and quantitative assessment of pain. In Raymond S. Sinatra, Oscar A. de Leon-Cassasola, Brian Ginsberg & Eugene R. Viscusi (eds.), Acute pain management, 147–171. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511576706.013Search in Google Scholar

White, Marsha & Steve M. Dorman. 2001. Receiving social support online: Implications for health education. Health Education Research 16(6). 693–707.10.1093/her/16.6.693Search in Google Scholar

Woolf, Virginia. 1930. On being ill. London: Hogarth Press.Search in Google Scholar

Appendix 1 – The McGill Pain Descriptors (Melzack 1975)

CATEGORY: SENSORY (GROUPS 1–10)CATEGORY: AFFECTIVE (GROUPS 11–15)CATEGORY: EVALUATIVE (GROUP 16)CATEGORY: MISCELLANEOUS (GROUPS 17–20)
16111617
FLICKERINGTUGGINGTIRINGANNOYINGSPREADING
QUIVERINGPULLINGEXHAUSTINGTROUBLESOMERADIATING
PULSINGWRENCHINGMISERABLEPENETRATING
THROBBINGINTENSEPIERCING
BEATINGUNBEARABLE
POUNDING
271218
JUMPINGHOTSICKENINGTIGHT
FLASHINGBURNINGSUFFOCATINGNUMB
SHOOTINGSCALDINGDRAWING
SEARINGSQUEEZING
TEARING
381319
PRICKINGTINGLINGFEARFULCOOL
BORINGITCHYFRIGHTFULCOLD
DRILLINGSMARTINGTERRIFYINGFREEZING
STABBINGSTINGING
LANCINATING
491420
SHARPDULLPUNISHINGNAGGING
CUTTINGSOREGRUELLINGNAUSEATING
LACERATINGHURTINGCRUELAGONIZING
ACHINGVICIOUSDREADFUL
HEAVYKILLINGTORTURING
51015
PINCHINGTENDERWRETCHED
PRESSINGTAUTBLINDING
GNAWINGRASPING
CRAMPINGSPLITTING
CRUSHING
Published Online: 2016-5-3
Published in Print: 2016-5-1

©2016 by De Gruyter Mouton

Downloaded on 28.4.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/cercles-2016-0010/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button