Vietnamese Perceptions of (Im)politeness through Their Narratives of Medical Encounters with Native English-Speaking Doctors during Postgraduate Study abroad

This study examines how Vietnamese postgraduate students interpret (im)politeness during clinical consultations with doctors in English-speaking countries. Drawing on narrative reflective reports from 14 Vietnamese university academics who completed their doctoral studies in TESOL and Applied Linguistics abroad, the research analyzes participants’ retrospective accounts of critical medical encounters in which they evaluated native English-speaking doctors as polite or impolite. Using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase framework for thematic analysis, the study identifies key factors shaping these evaluations. The findings reveal that participants associated politeness with behaviors demonstrating care, empathy, respect, and a preference for communication styles that minimize imposition. Moreover, politeness was closely intertwined with perceptions of clinical professionalism, suggesting that professional conduct itself functions as a form of politeness in intercultural medical contexts. Participants’ assessments were influenced by Vietnamese cultural values, prior experiences with domestic healthcare communication, and evolving expectations formed through exposure to English-speaking cultures. The study contributes to intercultural pragmatics by illustrating how cultural frameworks shape politeness perceptions in healthcare encounters and offers practical implications for enhancing intercultural communication competence among both EFL learners and healthcare practitioners in English-speaking environments.