Primary-concern solicitation in Chinese medical encounters

Abstract Drawing on conversation analysis, this study examines primary-concern solicitation in Mandarin-speaking medical encounters in China. Based on the observation of naturally occurring solicitation sequences, we identify the major question formats and problem-solicitation patterns in China’s mainland. It is found that Chinese medical openings feature both the dominance of generic solicitation in primary-concern solicitation and the recurrence of phase-skipping business-specific solicitation. Chinese primary-concern solicitation tends to be both more permissive and restrictive than its English counterpart, driven by the same concern of consultation efficiency. The study contributes to a cross-cultural comparison of the medical activity and enriches the understanding of culture and language’s influence on performing social actions in medical encounters.