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Words and meanings in cancer communication: Denotational and connotational misalignments
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Kerryn Lutchman-Singh,
Milo Coffey,
Christine Davies
Applied Linguistics
Swansea University Authors:
Tess Fitzpatrick , Kerryn Lutchman-Singh, Milo Coffey
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DOI (Published version): 10.1093/applin/amag010
Abstract
Shared understanding of words used in cancer care is crucial to the quality of patients’ engagement with their treatment. A cancer diagnosis introduces the patient to many unfamiliar words and meanings. This study identifies words that are prone to impede communication, by i) evaluating lay particip...
| Published in: | Applied Linguistics |
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| ISSN: | 0142-6001 1477-450X |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press (OUP)
2026
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71259 |
| Abstract: |
Shared understanding of words used in cancer care is crucial to the quality of patients’ engagement with their treatment. A cancer diagnosis introduces the patient to many unfamiliar words and meanings. This study identifies words that are prone to impede communication, by i) evaluating lay participants’ (n=292) definitional understanding of terms commonly used in cancer care, and ii) comparing the connotations of terms held by lay participants with those held by healthcare practitioners (n=82). A critical impediment to definitional understanding was found when words are used in a different, sometimes contradictory, way from their meaning in general language use. Participants who misunderstood terms were no less confident in the accuracy of their understanding than those who understood well. Connotational meaning was assessed using semantic differential and word association techniques. A lack of congruence between lay and health practitioner connotations was found for most target terms; a substantial number of ‘fear’- or ‘sad’- related associations from lay participants contrasted with a near absence of such connotations from healthcare practitioners. Findings reveal routes to improved health communication. |
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| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Funders: |
The research reported in this paper was supported by funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (Research Wales Innovation Fund) and from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation (grant number AH/Y003020/1). |