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This article presents the results of a study on doctor–patient interaction in dyadic and triadic exchanges. The analysis is based on transcripts of recordings done at healthcare centres in northern Madrid, Spain, and Minneapolis, USA. The methodological approach is that of institutional discourse analysis as developed by Drew and Heritage (Drew & Heritage 1992; Heritage 1995, 1997; Drew & Sorjonen 1997). Three different types of doctor–patient interaction are examined: (1) doctor/foreign-language patient; (2) doctor/ foreign-language patient/ad hoc interpreter; (3) doctor/ foreign-language patient/trained interpreter. Topics such as the assignment of participant roles, changes in the general structure, turn-taking, and asymmetrical relationships will be explored. The study is mainly descriptive and qualitative, but also includes some comparative quantitative analyses.

This article presents the results of a study on doctor–patient interaction in dyadic and triadic exchanges. The analysis is based on transcripts of recordings done at healthcare centres in northern Madrid, Spain, and Minneapolis, USA. The methodological approach is that of institutional discourse analysis as developed by Drew and Heritage (Drew & Heritage 1992; Heritage 1995, 1997; Drew & Sorjonen 1997). Three different types of doctor–patient interaction are examined: (1) doctor/foreign-language patient; (2) doctor/ foreign-language patient/ad hoc interpreter; (3) doctor/ foreign-language patient/trained interpreter. Topics such as the assignment of participant roles, changes in the general structure, turn-taking, and asymmetrical relationships will be explored. The study is mainly descriptive and qualitative, but also includes some comparative quantitative analyses.

This article deals with aspects of interaction between doctors and immigrant users whose native language is not Spanish (immigrant non-native speakers of Spanish: INNSS) in healthcare centers in Spain. The methodological focus is based on institutional conversation analysis following Drew and Heritage’s studies (Drew & Heritage 1992; Heritage 1997; Drew and Sarjonen 1997), and ethnographic research (Cicourel 1992). It is my intention to examine the characteristics and peculiarities -if any- of doctor-patient interaction when the participants are immigrants and non-native speakers of Spanish who are not fluent in the language of interaction, in this case Spanish. The study is based on quantitative and qualitative data which come from surveys and recordings carried out in healthcare centers in northern Madrid, Spain, during 2000 - 2001.