The Analysis of Spoken Medical Discourse on OSCE Videos (A Multimodal Corpus Approach)

Selecting materials in teaching English for Medical Purposes (EMP) should consider about discourse components. In fact, the textbook which becomes the main source of instruction contains more verbal aspects than the nonverbal ones. The medical encounters containing both aspects are important as the patient-centered catalyst to be used for teaching reference. The nonverbal aspects are important to build rapport and empathy in the communication. The present study tried to unveil the verbal and nonverbal aspects contained in the medical videos and the combination of both aspects on meaning making process which are potential to be used as supplementary materials in the EMP class. This was a mix method study with multimodal corpus approach. The explanatory sequential design used two analysis tools; WordSmith and ELAN. The quantitative process was done through frequency and pattern calculation by the first tool, as the tradition of corpus linguistic work. The second tool worked on the qualitative aspects such as annotation and contextual use on body orientation, facial expression, gaze, gesture, head movement and voice. The nine videos which were created by the medical experts on demonstrating Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) were chosen purposively on a YouTube channel. Two linguists validated the data and the result in order to know the credibility of the study. The study found that both verbal and nonverbal elements performed by the doctor were essential for EMP teaching. The verbal elements showed that the spoken elements from lexis to phrases were provided by the videos. The wordlist, keywords, and cluster may be used in the EMP classes. Moreover, looking up to the discourse aspects, the verbal aspects were important for maintaining relationship between doctor and patient. Interestingly, the nonverbal aspects were performed by the doctor in the videos too. The body language and voice put significant meaning to the communication. One of the functions of the nonverbal aspects found in the current study was the action of good listenership exhibited by the doctor. The combination of verbal and nonverbal aspects in the videos showed certain functions and relationships. In the spoken communication, these findings were significant for creating a good speech style which was important for not only medical English students but also OSCE test takers. Knowing those aspects, the implication of English teaching for medical students can be made. The videos could provide an integrated language materials which are rich of verbal, nonverbal, discourse and communication convention. The medical students can get invaluable input before they really become international medical graduates after comprehending values depicted in the videos