Preliminary communication
TEACHING ENGLISH MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY TO STUDENTS OF MEDICINE: THE SOONER, THE BETTER
Aleksandra Žmegač Horvat
; Medicinskome fakultetu u Zagrebu.
Abstract
Aim. To compare the impact of the introductory part of the Medical English course at the University of Zagreb Medical School in three different student groups, in view of the recent curricular changes concerning the Bologna process.
Method. In the academic year 2005/06, three student groups (students of The Medical Studies in English program, regular first- and second-year students) took the same course concerning the basics of the morphology of medical terms. At the beginning and at the end of the course, each group was given the same questionnaire testing vocabulary at the levels of recognition and production. The difference between the results obtained at the outset and upon the completion of the course expressed the extent of vocabulary acquisition, calculated
for each term and as mean values for each group separately.
Results. In the vertical, recognition vs production, comparison of results, all groups attained higher percentages in the recognition part of the questionnaire. Horizontally, the best results in both parts were achieved by the Medical Studies in English (MSE) group. Concerning the regular first- and second-year groups, the former did markedly better in the recognition part, while the difference in the production part was only slightly in their favor.
Conclusion. The considerably better results attained by the MSE group
are probably due to the chronologically concentrated teaching and evaluation of the course, as well as to the students’ high motivation. Regarding the first and second-year groups, it was shown that the course impact was definitely greater for the first-year group, a result that supports the current changes in the curriculum concerning the Medical English course and serves as a hopeful pointer to our future efforts in that direction.
Keywords
Medical English; curricular changes; Bologna process; morphology of medical terms; vocabulary acquisition at the levels of recognition and production
Hrčak ID:
23545
URI
Publication date:
14.11.2006.
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