Foreign-Language Dental Terminology and the Development of Professional Communication Skills in Dental Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69760/egjlle.2602004Keywords:
dental terminology, English for specific purposes, professional communication, communicative competence, dental education, patient-centered communicationAbstract
The globalization of healthcare education has heightened the need for foreign language competence in specialized disciplines such as dentistry. For dental students, learning clinical terminology in a foreign language extends beyond accessing international textbooks; it is integrally connected to the development of professional communicative competence in multilingual academic and clinical contexts. This study investigates the relationship between foreign-language dental terminology acquisition and the development of professional communication skills among undergraduate dental students. Using a mixed-method design that incorporates a questionnaire survey and qualitative discourse analysis, the research examines how students perceive the relevance of foreign-language terminology to their academic progress, clinical confidence, and patient-centered communication. The findings indicate that familiarity with foreign-language dental terminology enables students to explain procedures more clearly, comprehend clinical materials more effectively, and communicate with greater confidence in simulated patient interactions. The study argues that foreign-language dental terminology should not be treated as a peripheral vocabulary component but as a pedagogical instrument central to professional identity formation in dental education.
References
Anthony, L. (2018). Introducing English for specific purposes. Routledge.
Choi, H., Kim, R. J.-Y., Park, S.-Y., Lee, J., & Song, Y. (2024). Determinants of dentist-patient relationships: A scoping review. International Dental Journal, 74(5), 1078–1088. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.identj.2024.02.015
Coxhead, A. (2017). Vocabulary and English for specific purposes research: Quantitative and qualitative perspectives. Routledge.
Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M. J. (1998). Developments in English for specific purposes: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge University Press.
Gee, J. P. (2014). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method (4th ed.). Routledge.
Haley, C. M., & Doubleday, A. F. (2025). Inclusive language to support health equity and belonging in dentistry. Dental Clinics of North America, 69(1), 17–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cden.2024.08.001
Harden, R. M., & Crosby, J. (2000). AMEE guide no. 20: The good teacher is more than a lecturer — The twelve roles of the teacher. Medical Teacher, 22(4), 334–347. https://doi.org/10.1080/014215900409429
Ho, J. C. Y., Chai, H. H., Luo, B. W., Lo, E. C. M., Huang, M. Z., & Chu, C. H. (2025). An overview of dentist-patient communication in quality dental care. Dentistry Journal, 13(1), Article 31. https://doi.org/10.3390/dj13010031
Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes: A learning-centred approach. Cambridge University Press.
Imafuku, R., Kataoka, R., Ogura, H., Suzuki, H., & Saiki, T. (2022). Revisiting discourse analysis in medical education research. Medical Education, 56(4), 400–410.
Kakar, H., Gambhir, R. S., Singh, S., Kaur, A., & Nanda, T. (2014). Informed consent: Corner stone in ethical medical and dental practice. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 3(1), 68–71. https://doi.org/10.4103/2249-4863.130284
Lee, M., & Ihm, J. (2021). Empathy and attitude toward communication skill learning as a predictor of patient-centered attitude: A cross-sectional study of dental students in Korea. BMC Medical Education, 21, Article 225. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02674-z
Lu, X., Nanjappa, S., Wijesiri, T. I. D., Mossey, P., & Yuan, S. (2025). The role of health literacy in adults' dental service utilisation: A scoping review. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology. Advance online publication.
McKenzie, C. T. (2014). Dental student attitudes towards communication skills instruction and clinical application. Journal of Dental Education, 78(10), 1388–1396.
Nurash, P., Kasevayuth, K., & Intarakamhang, U. (2020). Learning programmes and teaching techniques to enhance oral health literacy or patient-centred communication for healthcare providers: A systematic review. European Journal of Dental Education, 24(1), 134–144. https://doi.org/10.1111/eje.12477
Otsuka, Y., Higashinakao, T., Nishio, F., & Kono, H. (2025). Design and implementation of a dental English learning application using Flutter. Cureus, 17(6), e86481.
Reid, K. I. (2017). Informed consent in dentistry. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 45(1), 77–94.
Street, R. L., Jr., Makoul, G., Arora, N. K., & Epstein, R. M. (2009). How does communication heal? Pathways linking clinician-patient communication to health outcomes. Patient Education and Counseling, 74(3), 295–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2008.11.015
Yu, S., Huang, S., Song, S., Lin, J., & Liu, F. (2024). Impact of oral health literacy on oral health behaviors and outcomes among older adults: A scoping review. BMC Geriatrics, 24, Article 858.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This is an open access article published under the Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
