So you chose to study massage because you like using your hands and you want to help people.
Yet now you find that it is the reading and writing that is tripping you up. It is as if you are required to learn a foreign language. It may sound like English but definitely not the English you and your friends speak.
Well you are absolutely right. Studying massage is about getting to know the human anatomy and physiology. And yes it is about mastering different massage techniques and styles. But it is also about learning a new language.
In fact acquiring any new competence, from hairdressing to psychology, from motor mechanics to biochemistry, involves learning the language of that particular job or profession. So in addition to the theoretical content and the skills we need to practice as massage therapists, we also have to learn the language of massage therapy.
As a health professional you will be required to communicate with a variety of different groups. It is important that we should be able to make ourselves understood but also that we understand others.
1. Communicating with the patient - We use spoken and written languages when interviewing a patient and when explaining a procedure to a patient and we use it in such a way that we enable the patient to give informed consent.
2. Communicating with the public - It is through language that we introduce massage to the wider community in presentations, articles, promotional material and press releases.
3. Communicating with colleagues – Massage therapy, being a health profession, means that we share the same lingo as other health professionals. We all ‘speak’ the language of anatomy, physiology and pathology. But we also share a particular vocabulary and terminology with other physical therapies such as physiotherapy, chiropractics and osteopathy.
4. Communicating officially – From time to time a massage therapist will be required to write official reports for organisations and institutions that are not related to the health profession e.g. a patient wants to claim from the Road Accident Fund and needs you to explain why massage is the treatment of choice.
5. Communicating the massage knowledge base - Language is also the tool therapists would use on the road of lifelong learning and continued professional development. The therapist’s ability to communicate his or her knowledge in the form of presentations, research reports and journal articles is as important as the knowledge base itself.
So you can see that although massage therapy is largely a knowledge and skills-based profession, it is important that a therapist also develops his or her language skills. Research has shown that students whose language skills are sub-standard tend to be weak in science subjects.
Language is usually classified according to its origin:
1. natural or everyday language
2. professional language (special purpose subsets of natural language)
3. symbolic language (signs and symbols e.g. the yield sign, body language and gesturing, visual language)
This classification is also related to linguistic registers.
What is a linguistic register?
Linguistic registers indicate the level of formality and form that we adopt when communicating in different situations. For example: we use a different linguistic register during a job interview as compared to asking a friend a favour. Also the register we adopt when speaking to a patient will differ from the one used when chatting to pals in a pub. The use of the appropriate register thus depends on the audience, the topic, and the purpose for the communication Learners as well as professionals must know how and when to move from one register to the next.
Joos (1961) describes five styles in spoken English:
1.Frozen – for example printed unchanging language such as Biblical quotations.
2.Consultative – Usually it is a two-way conversation e.g. talking to a boss/supervisor/teacher, lawyer, doctor, counsellor. It often involves asking for assistance.
3. Casual - Talking with friends often in slang to create an in-group, writing drafts before the formal draft (because it “gets the information out” on the paper). The word choice is general and the conversation is dependent upon non-verbal assists e.g. gesturing, facial expressions etc. Interruptions are common.
4. Intimate - Private communication with body language as important or more important than words. It is the language of lovers and people who know one another very well.
5.Formal or academic – This language register is characterised by one-way participation and no interruptions. It uses specific words and definitions, adheres strictly to grammar, uses complete sentence structure and follows particular language and layout rules. This is the standard for work, school, and business, used in interviews, academic language in the classroom (lectures, instruction) and public speaking. Formal registers are usually characterized by a set of specialised and technical vocabulary that is used by a specific occupations or professional group for particular purposes.
Just as we do not use the same language when speaking to our friends and to elderly aunts and uncles, a massage therapist has to adapt to his or her audience. In other words we have to select the most appropriate linguistic register for the situation. When speaking to patients a combination of consultative and formal registers is suitable – not too casual but also not to prim.
It takes confidence and experience to be an engaging public speaker or writer. The same applies to a newly qualified massage therapist learning over time to develop the right balance of professionalism and empathy with patients.
On the other hand when talking or writing to colleagues, when referring a patient, in peer group discussions, journal articles and when disseminating research findings, a massage therapist adopts a formal linguistic register. He or she uses professional language.
What is professional language?
As we said earlier, acquiring a new competence such as massage therapy also involves learning the language of that particular job or profession. Professional language is used by a group or profession and often consists of terminology, concepts and definitions that are not necessarily understood or used by other people.
So besides needing basic language and composition skills, a massage therapy learner also has to learn the shared language of the group or as it is called in academic circles, the discourse community. He or she also has to learn to select selecting the appropriate register or genre for different audiences.
Professional language is sometimes disapprovingly referred to as jargon and health professionals in particular are often accused of using unfamiliar words and phrases when speaking to patients. This not only alienates them but can also be an impediment to good health care. It is clear that is such a case, the therapist has selected the incorrect linguistic register and obviously using jargon should be avoided without compromising accuracy and a professional demeanour.
As said before, one of the reason why professional language can be difficult to understand is the specific word usage and terminology used. In the health care domain it is based on scientific language.
Where do massage therapists learn to use professional language?
The process doesn’t start the day you receive you registration number telling you that you can start practising.
No, the acquiring professional language starts the day you enroll for a massage therapy course. That is because professional language is the same as academic language. It is the language used by students to do their course work. It is used in textbooks, in lectures and it is the language that students are expected to use when doing reports and written assessments. Academic writing is also based on scientific language.
What is scientific language?
Science has a language of its own and this language has particular rules of composition and expression. A lot of the scientific names used are based on Latin and some Greek. The function of scientific language is to create a universal language to:
* Give names to subjects, objects, processes etc. Just think of all the muscle names, the pathologies etc.
* Communicate ideas
* Report observations
* Formulate theories
* Frame and investigate processes
* Set boundaries for meaning that are exact and accurate.
What are the characteristics of scientific language?
Scientific language and academic language share the same characteristics. It:
* Is objective, measured and fair and tends to be impersonal
* Is precise, explicit and consistent.
* Uses and introduces technical words with specific meanings.
* Gives scientific meaning to words which may have a different usage in everyday language.
* Is a vehicle for logical argumentation or reasoning.
* Is formal because it is more precise and stable.
* Is more suitable for the expression of complex ideas.
* Assumes that the listener / reader has background knowledge of the topic. But if that is not the case, all information embedded in the text, has to be revealed upfront.
* Is cautious and responsible.
* Builds arguments based on the strength of evidence available and acknowledges all sources of information.
* Is analytical and critical.
* Is explanatory rather than descriptive.
* Follows established conventions.
Why do students have to master academic/scientific language?
Students need to master academic language:
1. to assimilate the material presented to them in anatomy, physiology and pathology modules;
2. to communicate effectively in a professional way and
3. to think in a scientific way.
This blog wants to serve as complementary resource for students of massage therapy to contribute to your academic and professional success and ultimate assimilation into the profession of Therapeutic Massage Therapy in
In Part 2 of this section on Learning language and learning through language, we look at ways to master academic writing.
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