From clinical to critical: Medical discourse as a constructed stance

Abstract

Critical reading significantly contributes to people’s reflective capacities and leads to accurate analysis with its role in perception, judgement, sense-making, and using knowledge for communication, which greatly depend on reading effectiveness. This approach to the text is not merely a process of moving from one line to another; rather, it involves forming associations and generating ideas that linger in the reader’s mind long beyond the act of reading. Critical reading is crucial in comprehending and evaluating any text, including non-literary ones such as medical documents, through the analysis of which it may be possible to explore how power relations, authority, and implicit assumptions may shape medical knowledge and influence readers' interpretations. For some people, reading about pain might have a negative effect, making them feel worse, but all of us may suffer, or be close to those who endure the intense and prolonged pain known as 'migraine.' “What Happens During a Migraine Attack?” -a section taken from the article titled Migraine – More than a Headache by Michael Teixido and John Carey (2014) constitutes the corpus of this study. Throughout this study, various key concepts such as characters, voices, presupposition, hedging, coherence, and cohesion, as defined by Fairclough (2006) will be used to uncover how medical knowledge might be disseminated and constructed to highlight the role of discourse in shaping medical authority. Critical reading will be conducted by posing specific questions to the text and seeking answers, aiming to create a discursive space for refining our understanding of the text.

Keywords

• Critical reading
• Fairclough
• Text Analysis
• Medical Discourse
• Migraine

Klinikten eleştirele: Kurgulanmış bir tutum olarak tıbbi söylem

Abstract

Eleştirel okuma, algı, yargı, anlamlandırma ve bilgiyi iletişim amacıyla kullanma gibi, okuma başarımına büyük ölçüde bağlı olan süreçlerdeki rolü sayesinde, bireylerin düşünsel yetilerini önemli ölçüde geliştirir ve isabetli çözümlemeler yapılmasına olanak tanır. Bu yaklaşım, metnin bir satırından diğerine geçmeklen ibaret bir süreç değildir; aksine, okuma eyleminin çok ötesinde okuyucunun zihninde kalan bağlantılar oluşturup fikirler üretmeyi içerir. Eleştirel okuma, yalnızca yazınsal metinlerin değil, tıp metinleri gibi yazın dışı metinlerin de anlaşılması ve değerlendirilmesinde büyük öneme sahiptir. Bu tür metinlerin çözümlenmesind güç ilişkilerinin, otoritenin ve tıbbi bilgiyi şekillendirebilecek örtük varsayımların nasıl işlediği, okurun yorumunu nasıl etkileyebileceği araştırılabilir. Bazı kişilerde acı üzerine okumak olumsuz etkilere yol açabilir; kendilerini daha kötü hissedebilirler. Ancak pek çok insan, ya bizzat dayanılmaz ve uzun süreli bir ağrı türü olan migren ile yaşamakta ya da bu duruma maruz kalan birine yakındır. Michael Teixido ve John Carey tarafından 2014 yılında kaleme alınan Migraine – More than a Headache (Migren – Baş ağrısından daha fazlası) başlıklı makalenin “What Happens During a Migraine Attack?” (Bir Migren Krizi Sırasında Ne Olur) adlı bölümü, bu çalışmanın bütüncesini oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmada, Fairclough (2006) tarafından tanımlanan karakter, ses, önvarsayım, temkinli söylem, tutarlılık ve bağdaşıklık gibi temel kavramlar aracılığıyla tıbbi bilginin nasıl inşa edilip dolaşıma sokulduğu çözümlenecek ve söylemin tıbbi otoritenin oluşumundaki rolü ortaya koyulacaktır. Eleştirel okuma, metne belirli sorular sorulup bu sorulara yanıtlar aranarak gerçekleştirilecek, böylece metne yönelik kavrayışımızı geliştirmeye elverişli bir tartışma zemini oluşturulmaya çalışılacaktır.

Keywords

• Fairclough
• eleştirel okuma
• metin çözümlemesi
• tıbbi söylem
• migren

References

1. Almedee, A. (2021). The analysis of a non-literary text by using the critical reading strategies. PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt / Egyptology, 18(4), 4849 - 4860. Retrieved from https://archives.palarch.nl/index.php/jae/article/view/7050
2. Atsuko K. Y. (2001). The pragmatic function of modal verbs in scientific papers. Report of Tokyo University of Fisheries, 30, 17-29.
3. Bartu, H. (2002). A critical reading course. Boğazici University Press.
4. Boginskaya, O. (2023). Hedging as a politeness strategy in research article reviews. Proceedings Of Southern Federal University, 27, 22-33.
5. Fairclough, N. (1992). Critical Language Awareness. Addison Wesley Longman.
6. Fairclough, N. (2006). Discourse and Social Change (12th ed.). Polity Press.
7. Fairclough, N. (2013). Language and Power (2nd ed.). Routledge.
8. García, B. (2015). Around the function of character in literary fiction. 452ºF. Revista de Teoría de la Literatura y Literatura Comparada, 187-203. Retrieved from https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/452f/article/view/

9. Gherdan, M. (2019). Hedging in academic discourse. Romanian Journal of English Studies, 16(1), 123-127. https://doi.org/10.1515/rjes-2019-0015
10. Flynn, L. L. (1989). Developing critical reading skills through cooperative problem solving. The Reading Teacher, 42(9), 664-668. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20200271
11. Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. Longman.
12. Hidayati, F. (2008). The Use of Hedging in Academic Discourse. Penelitian Pendidikan.
13. Huddleston, R. (1984). Introduction to the grammar of English. Cambridge University Press.
14. Hyland, K. (2006). Medical Discourse: Hedges. Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics.
15. Kourkouta, L., & Iliadis, C., Frantzana, A., & Vakalopoulou, V. (2018). Reading and Health Benefits. Journal of Healthcare Communications, 3(4), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.4172/2472-1654.100149
16. Miller, Tom, Ed. (1997). Functional Approaches to Written Text: Classroom Applications. United States Information Agency.
17. Minton, T. D. (2015). In defense of the passive voice in medical writing. The Keio Journal of Medicine, 64 (1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.2302/kjm.2014-0009-RE
18. Oktavianti, I., Radzuan, N., Pratolo, B., Surono, S., Budiwati, T., & Aisyah, S. (2025). Modal verbs in Indonesian and Malaysian English textbooks for secondary schools: A corpus-driven study. Studies in English Language and Education, 12, 20-33. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v12i1.35258
19. Pradani, A. (2021). The Importance of Reading to Expand Knowledge. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352020734_
20. Razzak, F. A., & Al-Hussan, H. (1981). General Linguistics College Composition. A Publication of the Institute for the Development of English Language Teaching in Iraq.
21. Robins, R. H. (1975). An Introductory Survey. Longman.
22. Savory, T. (1967). The Language of Science. Ardre Deutsh.
23. Stjernswärd, S., & Glasdam, S. (2022). The European standard EN 17398:2020 on patient involvement in health care – a Fairclough-inspired critical discourse analysis. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 23(2). 130-141. https://doi.org/10.1177/15271544221088250
24. Swales, J. (1971). Writing Scientific English. Nelson and Sons.
25. Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. B. (1994). Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skills. University of Michigan Press.
26. Taglieber, L. (2008). Critical reading and critical thinking. Ilha do Desterro: A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies, (44). http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2003n44p141
27. Tasnimi, M. (2017). Critical reading: An introduction. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351428432
28. Teixido, M., & Carey, J. (2014). Migraine – More than a Headache. MD – Jefferson Medical College and Johns Hopkins Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. Retrieved from https://www.anausa.org/images/2022/articles/Migraine_-_More_than_a_Headache.pdf
29. Tuna, D. (2017). Revealing to translate: The intertextuality and strategic nature of voices, presuppositions and metadiscourse in a non-literary text. International Journal of Languages’ Education and Teaching, 5(3). 133-144. https://doi.org/10.18298/ijlet.2064
30. Wallace, C. (2003). Critical Reading in Language Education. Palgrave Macmillan.
31. Yearley, S. (1981). Textual persuasion: The role of social accounting in the construction of scientific arguments. Phiolosophy of the Social Sciences, 11(3). 409-435. https://doi.org/10.1177/004839318101100307
32. Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford University Press.
33. Yule, G. (2017). The Study of Language (6th ed.). Cambridge University Press.