ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on one specific workplace setting in a medical context, namely genetic counselling. This context presents an important and flourishing area of investigation for scholars working on language and communication in the workplace. After outlining existing research on communication in medical and genetic counselling contexts and highlighting some gaps in that research, critical issues are discussed. Focusing on non-English dominant contexts, two examples of prenatal screening consultations for Down’s syndrome in Hong Kong are then presented. These analyses focus on decision-making and the impact of participants’ diverse sociocultural and linguistic backgrounds on how decisions are made.
