ABSTRACT
This chapter is a qualitative discourse analysis of how nonmedical small talk is encouraged or discouraged in medical consultations. Although small talk has conventionally been considered secondary and periphery compared with instrumental talk in accomplishing the institutional tasks related to medical consultations, its values in understanding the norms of medical practices have recently been widely recognized. Yet, few of the earlier research studies discussed its emergence in older patient encounters. This chapter explores this issue by examining the placement and construction of small talk in doctor-older patient encounters in two types of clinical practices. The analysis primarily uses frame analysis and CA to explain the clinical similarities and differences in constructing small talk.
