Breve historia de la evaluación educativa en el Ecuador

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Doc.: You should have eaten before you left home so that you would be able to take your drugs. If you had done that your BP wouldn‟t have gone up like this.

The kinds of drugs you take are those that cause frequent urination.

Therefore, you should take them in the morning to avoid waking up frequently in the night to urinate. So, now that you failed to take it in the morning, are you now going to take it in the evening and make it disturb your sleep in the night? It‟s important you learn to take them every morning.

Pt.: Thank you.

Similarly, the doctors‟ contributions in Extracts 84 and 85 are direct expressions employed to reprimand the patients for their utter disregard for their health. The doctors employed FTA here to condemn the patients‟ dangerous health practices. It is clear from the extracts and discussions above that FTA with redress (positive politeness) performed the pragmatic functions of correcting the patients‟ unhealthful practices, tactfully eliciting information from them to make diagnoses, and allaying the fears generated by their ailments.

5.4 Research Question 3: Which politeness maxims are observable in the

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Doc.: A o se itoju oju nibi. [This is not an eye clinic.] O le je complication ito sugar naa ni. [It could be a complication of your diabetic condition.] To ba dola, e maa lo si ibi ti nwon ti n toju oju. [You will go to the eye clinic tomorrow.] O ye ki e maa se awon ayewo yen toripe itoju eni to ba ni diabetes se pataki, bi eni naa ba ni egbo, ko nii jinna. [You ought to do the tests regularly as a result of your diabetic condition because if you sustain an injury, you may not know and the wound will not heal up.So, e ni ni lati maa ye ese nyin wo – awon inu ika yen.- lati mo boya egbo wa nibe. [So, you need to constantly examine your feet to ensure there are no sores there, especially in-between the toes.] Bi e ko ba le wo fun ran yin, e le pe eeyan ko baa nyin wo tabi ki e fi mirror woo boya egbo wa nibe. [You may inspect the feet with a mirror if there is nobody to assist you inspect them.] Aisan yii lo n faa tin won fi n gee se opolopo eeyan. [This ailment causes a lot of people to suffer feet amputation.] Ti eekanna nyin ba gun, e o le fi blade gee, nail cutter le maa lo ko ma baa da egbo sin yin lese. [You cannot cut your nails with blade. Instead, you will use a nail cutter.] Ti egbo ba de be, ko nii san, ko ma waa di pe nwon maa gee kuro.[If a sore emerges, it will not heal up and it may result in amputation.]

Pt.: O ye mi.[I can understand you.]

Doc.: Bakannaa, e o maa ye abe bata nyin wo fun eso toripe to ba gun-un, o le se nyin lese. [Similarly, you should inspect the soles of your shoes to ensure there are no nails in them as they can wound you.] Atipe diabetes maa n baa won isan ese je ni debii pe ti nnkan gun eyan lese ko nii mo.[In addition, diabetes is so debilitating a disease that if you have an injury, you might not feel it.] Ni afikun, e o maa wa losoosu fun itoju ati ayewo. [Again, too, you should come monthly for examination and treatment.To ba je pe owo lani k‟e waa gba, e maa wa bo je eemeji losu.[If we asked you to come to collect money, even twice monthly, you would come]. Tori naa. ilera se Pataki. [Therefore, health is important. E o maa wa losoosu.- Eemejila lodun. [You will come monthly – twelve times a year.]E o maa ra oogun nyin deede. [You should take your drugs regularly.] Toogun nyin ba ti ku merin ni e ti maa wa sibi lati waa se ayewo.[You should come here

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immediately you have about four tablets left for further examination.]

Nigbati e ba n bo, e o nii jeun abi momi wa. [When coming, you will neither eat nor drink water.]Idi ti a ni lati se bayii ni ki sugar to wa lara nyin ti a n gbiyanju ati muwale ma baa lo soke.[We need to do this to ensure your sugar level we are trying to bring down does not go up.]

Pt.: E see. [Thank you.]

Extract 87 (Interaction 35)

Doc.: How robust is the relationship between you and your husband?

Pt.: Very cordial.

Doc.: What about you co-wife?

Pt.: Even though my husband married the second wife not more than a year ago but that‟s not a problem in any way and my children don‟t give me any problem either. In addition, my trade is flourishing too.

Doc.: Okay. We are going to give you some drugs to be taken every evening for a whole month. It might make you sleep but the purpose for giving you the drugs is not to make you sleep. So, you will now come for a review in the next three weeks.

These drugs I have recommended are not expensive. They cost less than #500 but there are some that cost as much as #3000. So, go take these drugs. We believe they will work because they are very effective. However, if you have any complaint, do come back to let us know. Evert doctor here is competent but ask of Dr. Abdul because I would personally like to see you then.

Pt.: But, doctor I feel pains in this arm and this leg. They pain me a lot and at such times, I also a burning sensation in my vagina.

Doc.: Madam, go take the drugs I have recommended. They will take care of all your complaints. Don‟t you see a white discharge in your private parts?

Pt.: I do.

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Doc.: But, you didn‟t want to complain about until I raised it.

Pt.: I thought it was also caused by the burning sensation.

Doc: Some patients don‟t like to discuss very private health issues like these but it‟s not good. Always tell your doctor all your health complaints for action.

Pt.: Thank you, sir.

Doc.: I have recommended another drug to take care of that, too.

Pt.: Thank you.

In extracts 86 and 87, the doctors‟ contributions showed that they were very compassionate on the patients and wanted them to derive maximum benefits from their visit to the hospital. In Extract 86, the doctor offered the patient another opportunity for medical examination and drug prescription by giving her another appointment. Similarly, in Extract 85, the doctor, after recommending some drugs, asked the patient to come for a review after three weeks. He also added that in case there was any problem, the patient should come to the hospital and also offered to personally attend to the patient. In addition, the doctor‟s third and fourth emboldened contributions in Extract 87 raised a question on another health challenge („Don‟t you see a white discharge in your private parts?‟) that the patient did not want to talk about until the doctor mentioned it. As can be seen towards the end of the extract, the doctor also recommended some drugs to take care of the health problem too. All these offers, no doubt, meant more work for the doctors but they did not care as the well being of the patients was paramount to them.

The deployment of the tact maxim performed the communicative function of enabling the doctors to show their compassion for the patients. It also afforded them the opportunity to offer the patients more medical attention. Grammatically, the tact maxim was realised by declaratives and interrogatives in the interactions.