Intercultural communication competence: an integral component of the EMP curriculum

• Autores: Agnieska Dudzik
• Localización: Discourses in co(n)text: the many faces of specialised discourse / Magdalena Zabielska (ed. lit.), Emilia Wasikiewicz-Firlej (ed. lit.), Anna Szcezepaniak-Kozak (ed. lit.), 2015, ISBN 978-1-4438-7419-9, págs. 33-59
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The inevitability of intercultural communication is recognised in many healthcare institutions, as the demographic profiles of both patients and medical personnel have become increasingly varied. Consequently, medical students and practising healthcare professionals need to be trained in terms of intercultural communication competence (ICC). They need to be able to communicate with culturally diverse members of the healthcare team and, most importantly, provide effective medical care and treatment to patients from different cultural backgrounds. Healthcare personnel need to be able to diagnose and treat all individuals, irrespective of their social, ethnic or cultural origins and, therefore, intercultural communication training should be an integral part of the English for Medical Purposes (EMP) curriculum. The aim of the present chapter is to demonstrate why intercultural competence needs to be incorporated and used in EMP programs to enhance learners' occupation-specific communication skills. The article is divided into two parts. The first part begins with a brief discussion of intercultural communication competence, and its different dimensions as proposed by various researchers. Following this, the rationale for including ICC in medical English courses is outlined. The second part of the article presents a critical discussion of various intercultural communication issues which should be considered in the design of an EMP curriculum, and explores their implications for the patient encounter and thus effective health care delivery.