Cover not available
Part of
Technology Mediated Service Encounters
Edited by Pilar Garcés-Conejos Blitvich, Lucía Fernández-Amaya and María de la O Hernández-López
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 300] 2019
► pp. 17–44

Chapter 1
Language discordance and technological facilitation in health care service encounters

A contrastive experiment

This chapter reports on the design and implementation of a multilingual, mobile app to facilitate the communication in language discordant face-to-face service encounters (SEs). It describes the results of a two-group between-subjects experiment, in which respondents (N = 20) were randomly assigned to either a SE with app (N = 11), or a SE without app (N = 9). The research builds on the hypothesis that technological mediation facilitates the transfer of information. To verify this hypothesis, it relies on qualitative and quantitative research data: (i) SERVQUAL satisfaction questionnaires and (ii) interaction analysis of video-recorded SEs. The findings address concerns of lengthened visit time, reduced eye contact and additional training needs. The chapter closes with brief guidelines for unlocking the potential of mHealth in language discordant SEs.
Keywords: mHealth, TMC (technology-mediated communication), TFC (technology-facilitated communication), service encounter, service quality, SERVQUAL, two-group between-subjects experiment, mixed method, multilingualism
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Situating the case
  • 3.Data collection and method
    • 3.1A qualitative perspective
    • 3.2Experimental approach
      • 3.2.1Satisfaction questionnaires
      • 3.2.2Interactional analysis of video-recorded SEs
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • 4.1Satisfaction questionnaires
    • 4.2Interactional analysis
      • 4.2.1Does technological facilitation impact on conversational sequencing? (RQ3)
      • 4.2.2Does technological mediation impact on eye gaze? (RQ4)
      • 4.2.3Does technological facilitation enhance communicative understanding? (RQ5)
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 10 January 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.300.01dew
References (62)
References
Ali, Amin Ahsan, Syed Monowar Hossain, Karen Hovsepian, Kurt Plarre, and Santosh Kumar. 2012. “SmokeTrack: Automated Detection of Cigarette Smoking in the Mobile Environment from Respiration Measurements.” Proceedings of ACM/IEEE Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks: 269–280.Google Scholar
Andrews, Margaret M., and Boyle, Joyceen S. 1999. Transcultural Concepts in Nursing Care. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins.Google Scholar
Arminen, Ilkka. 2005. Institutional Interactions. Studies of Talk at Work. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Azrin, Nathan H., and Richard M. Foxx. 1974. Toilet Training in Less Than a Day. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Baldry, Anthony, and Paul J. Thibault. 2006. Multimodal Transcription and Text Analysis: A Multimedia Toolkit and Coursebook. London/Oakville: Equinox.Google Scholar
Baraldi, Claudio. 2009. “Forms of Mediation: The Case of Interpreter-Mediated Interactions in Medical Systems.” Language and Intercultural Communication 9(2): 120–137.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cole, Steven A., and Julian Bird. 2000. The Medical Interview. The Three-Function Approach. Philadelphia: Saunders.Google Scholar
Brazelton, Terry. 1962. “A Child-Oriented Approach to Toilet Training.” Pediatrics 29: 121–128.Google Scholar
Candlin, Christopher. 2001. “Health Care Communication: A Problematic Site for Applied Linguistics Research.” Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 23: 134–154.Google Scholar
Cole-Lewis, Heather, and Trace Kershaw. 2010. “Text Messaging as a Tool for Behavior Change in Disease Prevention and Management.” Epidemiol Rev 10 (32): 56–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Davidson, Brad. 2000. “The Interpreter as Institutional Gatekeeper: The Sociolinguistic Role of Interpreters in Spanish–English Medical Discourse.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 4(3): 379–405.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Denzin, Norman K. 1978. Sociological Methods. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
deVries Marten W., and Rachel R. deVries. 1977. “Cultural Relativity of Toilet Training Readiness: A Perspective from East Africa.” Pediatrics 60 (2): 170–177.Google Scholar
De Wilde, July, Ellen Van Praet, and Pascal Rillof. 2016. “Contesting the Monolingual Mindset: Practice Versus Policy: The Case of Belgium.” Journal of Language and Politics, 15 (2): 121–146.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Drew, Paul. 2001. “Spotlight on the Patient.” Text 21 (1–2): 261–268.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Duchêne, Alexandre, Melissa Moyer, and Celia Roberts. 2013. Language, Migration and Social Inequalities: a Critical Sociolinguistic Perspective on Institutions and Work. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Evans, Catrin, Katie Turner, Suzanne Suggs, Aurora Occa, Amdani Juma, and Holy Blake. 2016. “Developing a mHealth Intervention to Promote Uptake of HIV Testing among African Communities in the Conditions: a Qualitative Study.” BMC Public Health 16: 656. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fägersten, Kristy Beers, Elin Holmsten, and Una Cunningham. 2010. “Multimodal Communication and Meta-Modal Discourse.” In Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction (2 Volumes), ed. by Rotimo, 145–163. Hershey/New York: Information Science Reference. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Farber, Neil J., Lin Liu, Yunan Chen, Alan Calvitti, Richard L. Street, Danielle Zuest, Kristin Bell, Mark T. Gabuzda, Barbara Gray, Shazia Ashfaq, and Zia Agha. 2015. “EHR Use and Patient Satisfaction: What we Learned.” The Journal of Family Practice 64 (11): 687–696.Google Scholar
Félix-Brasdefer, César. 2015. The Language of Service Encounters: A Pragmatic-Discursive Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fjeldsoe, Brianna S., Alison Marshall, and Yvette D. Miller. 2009. “Behavior Change Interventions Delivered by Mobile Telephone Short-Message Service.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 36 (2): 165–173. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Frank, Ruth A. 2000. “Medical Communication: Non-Native English Speaking Patients and Native English Speaking Professionals.” English for Specific Purposes 19: 31–62.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Froehle, Craig M., and Aleda V. Roth. 2004. “New Measurement Scales for Evaluating Cognizances of the Technology-Mediated Customer Service Experience.” Journal of Operations Management 22: 1–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gordon, Judith S., Julie S. Armin, James K. Cunningham, Myra L. Muramoto, Steve Christiansen, and Thomas A. Jacobs. 2016. “Lessons Learned in The Development and Evaluation of Rxcoach™, An Mhealth App to Increase Tobacco Cessation Medication Adherence”. Patient Educ Couns. DOI logo. [Epub ahead of print]Google Scholar
Gumperz, John J. 1982. Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1999. “On Interactional Sociolinguistic Method.” In Talk, work and institutional order, ed. by Celia Roberts and Srikant Sarangi, 453–471. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gupta, Siddharth, Peter Chang, Nonso Anyigbo, and Ashutosh Sabharwal. 2011. Mobilespiro: Accurate Mobile Spirometry for Self-Management of Asthma. Retrieved 2 March, from [URL] DOI logo
Heritage, John, and David Greatbatch. 1991. “On the Institutional Character of Institutional Talk: The Case of News Interview Interaction.” In Talk and Social Structure, ed. by Deirdre Boden and Don H. Zimmerman, 93–137. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Kasper, Gabriele, and Merete Dahl. 1991. “Research Methods in Interlanguage Pragmatics.” Studies in Second Acquisition 13: 215–247.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kind & Gezin. s.d. Werken met gezinsondersteuners [Working with Family Support Workers] [URL]. (accessed 15 June 2017).
Koudenburg, Namkje, Tom Postmes, and Ernestine H. Gordijn. 2011. “Disrupting the Flow: How Brief Silences in Group Conversations Affect Social Needs.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 47 (2): 512–515. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kumar, Santosh, Wendy Nilsen, Amy Abernethy, Audie Atienza, Kevin Patrick, Misha Pavel, William Riley, Albert Shar, Bonnie Spring, Donna Spruijt-Metz, Donald Hedeker, Vasant Honavar, Richard Kravitz, Craig R. Lefebvre, David Mohr, Susan A. Murphy, Charlene Quinn, Vladimir Shusterman, and Dallas Swendeman. 2013. “Mobile Health Technology Evaluation The mHealth Evidence Workshop.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 45 (2): 228–236. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Larivière, Bart. 2008. “Linking Perceptual and Behavioral Customer Metrics to Multiperiod Customer Profitability: A Comprehensive Service-Profit Chain Application.” Journal of Service Research 11 (1): 3–21.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leach-Lemens, Carole. 2009. “Using Mobile Phones in HIV Care and Prevention.” HIV and AIDS Treatment in Practice 137 (7): 2–8.Google Scholar
Lee, Mi Aie, and Young-Hee Yom. 2007. “A Comparative Study of Patients’ and Nurses’ Perceptions of The Quality of Nursing Services, Satisfaction and Intent to Revisit the Hospital: A Questionnaire Survey.” Nursing Studies 44 (4): 545–555.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Margalit, Ruth Stashefsky, Debra Roter, Mary Ann Dunevant, Susan Larson, and Shmuel Reis. 2006. “Electronic Medical Record Use and Physician-Patient Communication: An Observational Study of Israeli Primary Care Encounters.” Patient Education and Counseling 61: 134–141.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maxham, James G., and Richard G. Netemeyer. 2002. “A Longitudinal Study of Complaining Customers’ Evaluations of Multiple Service Failures and Recovery Efforts.” Journal of Marketing 66 (4): 57–71 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Matsumoto, David, Mark G. Frank, and Hyi Sung Hwang. 2013. Nonverbal Communication. Science and Application. USA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Mosa, Abu Saleh Mohammad, Illhoi Yoo, and Lincoln Sheets. 2012. “A Systematic Review of Healthcare Applications for Smartphones.” Medical Informatics and Decision Making 12 (67). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Narayanasamy, Aru and White, Ethelrene. (2005). “A Review of Transcultural Nursing.” Nurse Education Today 25: 102–11. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nilsen, Wendy Jean, Santosh Kumar, Albert Shar, Carry Varoquiers, Tisha Wiley, William T. Riley, Misha Pavel, and Audie A. Atienza. 2012. “Advancing the Science of mHealth.” Journal of Health Communication 17 (1): 5–10. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Norris, Sigrid. 2004. Analyzing Multimodal Interaction. A methodological framework. New York/London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Nurmatov Ulugbek, Siew Lee, Bright Nwaru, Mome Mukherjee, Liz Grant, and Claudia Pagliari. 2014. The effectiveness of mHealth interventions for maternal, newborn and child health in low– and middle–income countries: protocol for a systematic review and meta–analysis. Journal of Global Health. 4:010407. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Oh, Hans, Carlos Rizo, Murray Enkin, and Alejandro Jadad. 2005. “What Is eHealth (3): A Systematic Review of Published Definitions.” Journal Med Internet Res 7 (1): 32–40. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pagliari, Claudia, David Sloan, Peter Gregor, Frank Sullivan, Don Detmer, James Kahan, Wija Oortwijn, and Steve Macgillivray. 2005. “What Is Ehealth: A Scoping Exercise to Map the Field.” Journal of Medical Internet Research 7 (1): e9. Available on [URL]
Pöchhacker, Franz. 2000. “Language Barriers in Vienna Hospitals.” Ethnicity and Health 5 (2): 113–119.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Quinn, Charlene C., Michelle D. Shardell, Michael L. Terrin, Erik Barr, Soshana H. Ballew, and Ann Gruber-Baldini. 2011. “Cluster-Randomized Trial of a Mobile Phone Personalized Behavioral Intervention for Blood Glucose Control.” Diabetes care 34 (9): 1934–1942.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rillof, Pascal, Ellen Van Praet, and July De Wilde. 2014. “The Communication Matrix. Beating Babel: Coping with Multilingual Service Encounters.” In (Re)Visiting Ethics and Ideology in Situations of Conflict, ed. by Carmen Valero-Garcés, Bianca Vitalaru and Esperanza Mojica López, 263–269. Alcalá: Universidad de Alcalá.Google Scholar
Sacks, Harvey, Emanuel A. Schegloff, and Gail Jefferson. 1974. “A Simplest Systematics for Turn Taking in Conversation.” Language 50: 696–735.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sarangi, Srikant. 2002. “Discourse Practitioners as a Community of Interprofessional Practice: Some Insights from Health Communication Research.” In Research and practice in professional discourse, ed. by Christopher N. Candlin, 95–135. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press.Google Scholar
Schmid, Marianne, Judith A. Hall, Christina Köckner, and Elisa Choi. 2008. “Physician Gender Affects How Physician Nonverbal Behavior Is Related to Patient Satisfaction.” Medical Care 46 (12): 1212–1218.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Silverman, David, Anssi Peräkylä, and Robert Bor. 1992. “Discussing Safer Sex in HIV Counselling: Assessing Three Communication Formats.” Aids Care 4: 69–82.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Silverman, Jonathan, Suzanne Kurtz, and Juliet Draper. 2013. Skills for Communicating with Patients. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Swinglehurst, Deborah, and Celia Roberts. 2014. “The Role of The Electronic Patient Record in The Clinical Consultation.” In The Routledge Handbook of Language and Health Communication, ed. by Heidi E. Hamilton and Wen-ying Sylvia Chou, 490–505. Abingdon/New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Van Vaerenbergh, Yves, and Troy D. Thomas. 2013. “Response Styles in Survey Research: A Literature Review of Antecedents, Consequences, and Remedies.” International Journal of Public Opinion Research 25 (2): 195–217.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ventola, C Lee. 2014. “Mobile Devices and Apps for Health Care Professionals: Uses and Benefits?” Pharmacy and Therapeutics 39 (5): 356–364.Google Scholar
Vertovec, Steven. 2007. “Super-diversity and its implications.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 30 (6): 1024–1054.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2010. “Introduction: Depicting diversity.” Diversities 12 (1): 1–3. Retrieved January18, 2017, from [URL]
Wadensjø, Cecilia. 1998. Interpreting as Interaction. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Weiner, Jonathan P. 2012. “Doctor-Patient Communication in the E-Health Era.” Israel Journal of Health Policy Research 1 (33). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Young, Marti and Klingle, Renee S. (1996). “Silent Partners in Medical Care: A Cross-cultural Study of Patient Participation.” Health Communication 8: 29–53.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zeithaml, Valarie A., A. Parasuraman, and Leonard L. Berry. 1990. Delivering Quality Service – Balancing Customer Perceptions and Expectations. New York, NY: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

de Groot, Freek Olaf
2021. A multimodal analysis of digitally mediated service encounters using ‘super-sticky’ applications: Implications from the micro to the macro. Multimodal Communication 10:1 ► pp. 5 ff. DOI logo
De Wilde, J. & Katrijn Maryns
2021. Multilingual support in HIV/ STD counselling in Flanders. The Translator 27:1 ► pp. 33 ff. DOI logo
Van Praet, Ellen, July De Wilde & Abdil Karanfil
2020. mHealth: A Game-Changer for Multilingual Service Encounters?. In Multilingual Healthcare [FOM-Edition, ], ► pp. 285 ff. DOI logo
De Cock, Barbara
2019. To be or not to be … a patient. In Reference and Identity in Public Discourses [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 306], ► pp. 205 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.