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The growing number of foreign residents and visitors in Japan has increased the need for healthcare professionals who can communicate effectively in English. Therefore, developing proficiency in conducting medical interviews in English has become an urgent professional requirement for Japanese medical students (Jego, 2022). Role-plays and simulated interactions have been shown to support the development of professional communication skills (Pilnick et al., 2018). While previous research has largely measured the effectiveness of these methods quantitatively (King et al., 2014; Chen et al., 2020), less is known about how medical students actually carry out such interactions in practice.
This study examines how simulated medical interviews unfold in situ, focusing on the interactional competence of novice medical practitioners (Nguyen, 2006, 2013). Data were drawn from 112 students enrolled in a medical English course at a Japanese university. Each student conducted a three-minute role-play interview with one of three foreign simulated patients, asking about symptoms and medical history. Using conversation analysis, the study identifies varying levels of interactional competence. Some students produced questions that elicited minimal responses, whereas others designed their turns to reflect medical knowledge and sensitivity to the sequential organization of talk. These students elicited more detailed responses and managed both transactional and empathetic aspects of the consultation. The findings highlight the importance of turn design, question consequentiality, and the display of empathy (Nozawa, et al, 2018) in novice medical interactions. Implications for medical English education are discussed.