Potential Risk Points in Doctor-Patient Communication: An Analysis of Hong Kong Emergency Department Medical Consultations

Abstract

Human beings are meaning makers, putting language and other semiotic systems to work in the various contexts of daily life- to entertain, to retell experiences, to amuse, to build relationships, to complete tasks, to inform, to explore, to teach, to warn, to sell, to form partnerships, to collaborate-inter alia. Most humans, most of the time, are not conscious of what they do with language, what they achieve lhrough language, how they use language, perhaps reflecting the way they developed as social beings. Show more