Words and meanings in cancer communication: Denotational and connotational misalignments

Fitzpatrick, Tess; Lutchman-Singh, Kerryn; Coffey, Milo; Davies, Christine

doi:10.1093/applin/amag010

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Words and meanings in cancer communication: Denotational and connotational misalignments

Tess Fitzpatrick

, 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...

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Published in:	Applied Linguistics
ISSN:	0142-6001 1477-450X
Published:	Oxford University Press (OUP) 2026
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71259

first_indexed	2026-01-16T16:01:43Z
last_indexed	2026-02-12T05:35:00Z
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spelling	2026-02-11T11:49:28.6418452 v2 71259 2026-01-16 Words and meanings in cancer communication: Denotational and connotational misalignments 9597ef45279e137ada70fc75832a45de 0000-0003-0715-9009 Tess Fitzpatrick Tess Fitzpatrick true false 533b3278d13fe86e1cab2bd677e9da4c Kerryn Lutchman-Singh Kerryn Lutchman-Singh true false e9a9a788266ca49869b5ab4f9ae196cc Milo Coffey Milo Coffey true false 2026-01-16 CACS 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. Journal Article Applied Linguistics 0 Oxford University Press (OUP) 0142-6001 1477-450X 10 2 2026 2026-02-10 10.1093/applin/amag010 COLLEGE NANME Culture and Communications School COLLEGE CODE CACS Swansea University 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). 2026-02-11T11:49:28.6418452 2026-01-16T07:29:51.6482198 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics Tess Fitzpatrick 0000-0003-0715-9009 1 Kerryn Lutchman-Singh 2 Milo Coffey 3 Christine Davies 4 71259__36221__5d7906a8ec48445d923c096bb027cc03.pdf 71259.VoR.pdf 2026-02-11T11:33:46.4576669 Output 662333 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2026. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title	Words and meanings in cancer communication: Denotational and connotational misalignments
spellingShingle	Words and meanings in cancer communication: Denotational and connotational misalignments Tess Fitzpatrick Kerryn Lutchman-Singh Milo Coffey
title_short	Words and meanings in cancer communication: Denotational and connotational misalignments
title_full	Words and meanings in cancer communication: Denotational and connotational misalignments
title_fullStr	Words and meanings in cancer communication: Denotational and connotational misalignments
title_full_unstemmed	Words and meanings in cancer communication: Denotational and connotational misalignments
title_sort	Words and meanings in cancer communication: Denotational and connotational misalignments
author_id_str_mv	9597ef45279e137ada70fc75832a45de 533b3278d13fe86e1cab2bd677e9da4c e9a9a788266ca49869b5ab4f9ae196cc
author_id_fullname_str_mv	9597ef45279e137ada70fc75832a45de_*_Tess Fitzpatrick 533b3278d13fe86e1cab2bd677e9da4c__Kerryn Lutchman-Singh e9a9a788266ca49869b5ab4f9ae196cc_**_Milo Coffey
author	Tess Fitzpatrick Kerryn Lutchman-Singh Milo Coffey
author2	Tess Fitzpatrick Kerryn Lutchman-Singh Milo Coffey Christine Davies
format	Journal article
container_title	Applied Linguistics
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publishDate	2026
institution	Swansea University
issn	0142-6001 1477-450X
doi_str_mv	10.1093/applin/amag010
publisher	Oxford University Press (OUP)
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description	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.
published_date	2026-02-10T05:32:22Z
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Words and meanings in cancer communication: Denotational and connotational misalignments

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