Theme choice in oral case presentations: Differences between medical novices and experts

The clinical case presentation is an important mode of professional communication as well academic genre in medical education. Examining both students' and experienced doctors' linguistic practices can reveal how students differ their underlying knowledge, interpretation execution the that mark novice status. In this paper, we describe differences use theme initiating sentences presentations produced by doctors students. Theme analysis, analysis elements are used to begin a clause, was used. data comprised 50 audio-recorded oral elicited from 20 30 two schools. Choice compared. findings show significantly specific types indicating different understanding social position field. Indexing status conjunctive adjuncts, interpersonal, existential pronoun themes, marked themes overt signalling structure. These contribute provide some insight on students’ learning trajectory inform appropriate educational interventions.