'How can Johns Hopkins not be angry?' A discursive case study of Chinese lay expert's science communication in the digital age. (September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhou, Feifei
• Is Part Of: Language & communication. Volume 74(2020)
• Page Start: 41
• Page End: 51
• Publication Date: 2020-09
• Subjects: Cancer patient -- Lay expertise -- Emotion discourse -- Science communication -- Evaluation language -- China; Communication -- Periodicals; Linguistics -- Periodicals; Communication -- Periodicals; Linguistics -- Periodicals; Communication -- Périodiques; Linguistique -- Périodiques; Communication; Linguistics; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 405
• DOI: 10.1016/j.langcom.2020.05.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0271-5309

Abstract

Abstract: As a new yet increasingly important phenomenon in science communication, lay experts' communicating science to patients is currently under-researched. Drawing on ethnographical study of an on-line support group in China and analyzing the interaction between a lay expert and patients, this article investigates the construction of lay expertise through the use of emotion discourse and evaluation language. Situating the analysis in wider historical and social context of science communication in China, I discuss the different roles of lay expertise in the West and China. It is observed that the application of emotional discursive strategies, though mainly serves to assert the moral justness of science authorities in this case study, may in the future facilitate informed discussions on cancer treatment, science and health. Highlights: Emotion discourse and evaluation language should not be taken as direct reflections of interactants' inner states. Instead, as this study demonstrates, they constitute important resources in the lay expert's on-line communication with other cancer patients. Drawing on these linguistic resources, the lay expert moralizes different positions regarding science and asserts the moral justness of science authorities and believers. This lay expert's discursive practices and stances contrast starkly with its Western counterparts. Some explanations are provided concerning this observed contrast with Western countries.