| Ineffective communication between healthcare providers and patients with limited English proficiency is one of the main causes of patients receiving inadequate access to healthcare services. The objective of this study is to analyze the interpreter's role in medical interactions as he brokers communication between English-speaking healthcare providers and Spanish-speaking patients. In this thesis I present four English-Spanish medical interview transcripts to analyze the role of the interpreter using eight discourse analysis tools. Those are: deixis, fill in the blank, integration, frame problem, figured worlds, why this way and not that way, identities building tools and connection building tools. These four transcripts illustrate the strategies used by the interpreter to facilitate the communication. Furthermore, the transcripts show the behaviors exhibited by the interpreter as he uses his knowledge of Hispanic culture to inquire about the patient's medical condition. An example of these behaviors includes self-prescribed remedies based on cultural ideologies. The data discussed in this investigation is part of a larger ethnographic study that took place in a public hospital in California. |
