Faculty of Humanities Udayana University bestowed the New Doctor: "Examining Contextual-Medical Politeness Maxims in Padang City"

• Posted by: Admin
• Kamis, 2 Juli 2026
• Has been read 0 time(s)

Denpasar, July 2 2026 - The Faculty of Humanities, Udayana University once again bestowed the  new Doctor through an Open Doctoral Defense Examination held last) at the Dr. Ir. Soekarno Room, Poerbatjaraka Building, 4th Floor. During this examination, Dr. Widya Fhitri, S.S., M.Hum. successfully defended her dissertation entitled "The Politeness Use by Healthcare Workers with Patients at Hospital X in Padang". Based on the evaluation results, the promovenda was officially declared to have graduated with a "Cum Laude" (With Honors) distinction. Dr. Widya Fhitri, S.S., M.Hum. is recorded as the 284th doctor within the Faculty of Humanities, Udayana University, as well as the 284th doctoral graduate of the Doctoral Program in Linguistics at Faculty of Humanities, Udayana University .

This open examination was presided over directly by Prof. Dr. I Made Netra, S.S., M.Hum. as the Chairperson of the Board of Examiners. Acting as the Promoter was Prof. Dr. Made Sri Satyawati, S.S., M.Hum., accompanied by Prof. Dr. I Wayan Pastika, S.S., M.Hum. as Co-promoter 1, and Prof. Dr. Ketut Artawa, M.A. as Co-promoter 2. The proceedings were also attended by the board of examiners who provided a comprehensive evaluation, namely Prof. Dr. Made Dhanawaty, M.S., Prof. Dr. Dra. Ni Made Suryati, S.S., M.Hum., Prof. Dr. Ketut Widya Purnawati, S.S., M.Hum., and Dr. Silvia Damayanti, S.S., M.Hum.

This dissertation research was motivated by the crucial role of communication skills in healthcare services in creating high-quality medical care. Effective communication established between healthcare workers and patients is believed to foster mutual trust, which ultimately supports the success of the diagnostic and medical treatment processes. Therefore, the phenomenon of language politeness in clinical settings, particularly at Hospital X in Padang, became the focus of an in-depth study to observe how these communication strategies are implemented.

This research applied descriptive qualitative approach with data sources consisting of direct utterances from healthcare workers to patients in the central administration unit, internal medicine polyclinic, and pharmacy. Data collection was conducted using the non-participatory observation method (Simak Bebas Libat Cakap), supported by recording and note-taking techniques. Through the pragmatic identity analysis method, the researcher correlated the form and function of language with the socio-cultural situational context of the local community.

The research findings proved that healthcare workers predominantly use interrogative sentences when interacting with patients. From a pragmatic perspective, the negative politeness strategy was recorded as the most frequently implemented approach, evidenced by the high frequency of politeness markers intended to save the patients' "face". As a theoretical contribution, the promovenda proposed an alternative model in the form of Contextual-Medical Politeness Maxims (MKMK) which accommodates Minangkabau cultural dimensions, such as the principles of Kato Nan Ampek and Raso jo Pareso, into functional medical communication practices.

Moving on to the discussion session, the dilemma of using medical technical terms versus lay terms became the focal point, considering the difficulty in bridging the knowledge gap between healthcare workers and patients. Responding to this, the promovenda explained that the use of both types of terms is actively adjusted to the context and demographics of the patients. Lay terms, such as "high blood pressure" instead of "hypotension", are frequently chosen to simplify the delivery of information to elderly patients to make it easier to understand. Conversely, technical terms are maintained for patients deemed to have adequate cognitive capacity in order to preserve the accuracy of clinical information. This proves that healthcare workers consciously make linguistic adjustments to achieve optimal therapeutic communication.

Concluding the examination, Prof. Dr. Made Sri Satyawati, S.S., M.Hum. as the Promoter conveyed her deep appreciation and pride, considering that the promovenda is her first doctoral supervisee to successfully graduate. She emphasized that this dissertation holds extraordinary significance because it does not merely uncover pure linguistic phenomena, but offers practical outcomes to improve the quality of public services in hospitals. The Promoter asserted that the integration of noble local cultural values with pragmatic theory will strengthen the therapeutic relationship, wherein communication grounded in politeness can indirectly boost the patients' immunity and motivation to recover.