An Analysis of Discourses between Doctors and Patients from the Perspective of Adaptation Theory
Abstract
Doctor-patient conversation is the primary way of communication for doctors and patients, and it is also an important activity in medical diagnosis and treatment. This paper，based on Verschueren's adaptation theory，regards the doctor-patient conversations of the TV series Angel Heart as corpus, analyzes the adaptation of the doctor-patient communications. According to the research, doctor-patient conversations adapt to communicative contexts and both doctors and patients choose different language structures consciously for dynamic adaptation in the process of communication. This paper, with the above research, expects to make positive contributions to further revealing the characteristics of doctor-patient conversations and constructing a more harmonious relationship between doctors and patients.
Key Words: Adaptation theory，doctor-patient conversation，context, language structure, dynamic adaptation
Content
1.    Introduction-1
2.    Demonstration1
2.1.    A brief introduction to Adaptation Theory1
2.2. Contextual correlates of adaptability in discourses between doctors and patients - 2
2.2.1. Adoption to physical world-2
2.2.2. Adaptation to social world 3
2.2.3. Adaptation to mental world-5             
2.3. Structural objects of adaptability in discourses between doctors and patients6
2.3.1. On the level of language styles-6
2.3.2. On the level of communicative types7
2.4. Dynamics of adaptability in discourses between doctors and patients8
2.4.1. Dynamics of adaptability to different identities of patients-9
2.4.2. Dynamics of adaptability to different illnesses-10
3. Conclusion11
Work Cited-12
Bibliography-13