STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH ACADEMIC COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE OF FUTURE MEDICAL DOCTORS OF PHILOSOPHY

Abstract

The curriculum of the Doctors of Philosophy Program in Medicine provides for the development of English professional communicative and academic competence during the studies. The author states that the issue of academic language competence, particularly that of medical specialists, has been insufficiently studied. The communicative and academic competence has been defined by the author as a combination of knowledge and skills of application of the general, medical and academic English during person’s interaction in the medical and academic environment, in order to reach the professional and scientific goals defined by the communicator. The literature review and personal experience prompted the author to define structure of English medical academic communicative competence, including three sybtypes: language competence (general English language competence), social-cultural (academic English) and professional(medical English) one. Each of the subtypes includes three parts: the cognitive (knowledge of the subtype essence and methods of its learning, represented by KNOWLEDGE), practical (practical application, represented by SKILLS) and the individual one (representing individual characteristics of the person which may well affect representation of the component). The author has defined that high level of English academic medical communicative competence is characterized by the language knowledge level C1, including the knowledge and skills of the general, medical and academic English which could be applied during general, medical and academic communication as well as effective interaction of the communicator. The high level is also characterized by the correct communication strategies choice, effective interaction of the communicator, using the appropriate strategies due to ethical and bioethical academic and medical standards, positive communication mindset, well-shaped “I-image” of the communicator as a scientist and a physician, able to interact productively. Developing such structure during the postgraduate studies by future medical Doctors of Philosophy should be pursued during the course of “Medical and academic English”.