Yu Hao, Isahakyan Anna, van Merrienboer Jeroen J G, Köhler S Eleonore, Asoodar Maryam
School of Health Professions Education, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2023 Jun 14;10:1163267. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1163267. eCollection 2023.
Role-playing has motivated foreign language learners for decades. In doctor-patient medical consultation role-plays, the doctor role has always been considered an important learning opportunity, whilst the patient role remained obscured. Our study, therefore, had a dual focus. We first explored how intrinsic motivation changes medical second-language (L2) learning through the lens of self-determination theory. We subsequently examined if playing the role of the patient provides additional value to medical L2 learning.
We performed a mixed-methods study using a one-group pretest-posttest design. Participants were 15 student volunteers learning medical Dutch through peer role-play in medical consultations. Students completed a questionnaire before and after the course that measured changes in their intrinsic motivation to experience stimulation (IMES), feeling of relatedness, and feeling of competence. We also measured students' competence through a peer-rated checklist and the final course grades. At the end of the course, the students participated in semi-structured interviews to discuss their experience acting as patients. The data were subjected to the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and a thematic analysis.
The pre- and post-questionnaires revealed that students' IMES as well as their feeling of relatedness increased. Their self-perceptions, feeling of competence, peer assessments, and final course grades demonstrated that students were competent in medical L2. Our thematic analysis led to the identification of five themes of the role-play exercise for medical L2 learning: (1) motivational experience, (2) supportive peer interaction, (3) setting up a role-play environment for medical L2 learning, (4) utilizing the patient role to benefit medical L2 learning, and (5) a novel patient perspective on the doctor's role.
Our study found that role-play, by enhancing students' intrinsic motivation, feeling of relatedness, and competence development, aids the medical L2 learning process. Interestingly, playing a patient role in medical consultation was also found to support this process. We welcome future controlled experiments to confirm the positive impact of playing the role of the patient in medical consultation.
几十年来，角色扮演一直激励着外语学习者。在医患医疗咨询角色扮演中，医生角色一直被视为重要的学习机会，而患者角色却一直被忽视。因此，我们的研究有两个重点。我们首先从自我决定理论的角度探讨内在动机如何影响医学第二语言（L2）学习。随后，我们研究了扮演患者角色是否能为医学L2学习带来额外价值。
我们采用单组前测-后测设计进行了一项混合方法研究。参与者是15名通过在医疗咨询中进行同伴角色扮演来学习医学荷兰语的学生志愿者。学生们在课程前后完成了一份问卷，该问卷测量了他们体验刺激的内在动机（IMES）、关联感和能力感的变化。我们还通过同伴评分清单和课程最终成绩来衡量学生的能力。课程结束时，学生们参加了半结构化访谈，讨论他们扮演患者的经历。数据进行了威尔科克森符号秩检验和主题分析。
前后问卷显示，学生的IMES以及他们的关联感有所增加。他们的自我认知、能力感、同伴评估和课程最终成绩表明，学生在医学L2方面表现出色。我们的主题分析确定了医学L2学习角色扮演练习的五个主题：（1）动机体验，（2）支持性的同伴互动，（3）为医学L2学习建立角色扮演环境，（4）利用患者角色促进医学L2学习，（5）患者对医生角色的全新视角。
我们的研究发现，角色扮演通过增强学生的内在动机、关联感和能力发展，有助于医学L2学习过程。有趣的是，在医疗咨询中扮演患者角色也被发现有助于这一过程。我们欢迎未来进行对照实验，以证实扮演患者角色在医疗咨询中的积极影响。
