This webinar presents a corpus-based, cross-linguistic analysis of person deixis in informed consent forms (ICFs) for invasive medical procedures in English, Spanish, and Hungarian. Drawing on a dataset of 45 authentic documents and combining quantitative analysis (Sketch Engine frequency and concordance data) with qualitative discourse analysis, the study examines how linguistic choices construct relationships between patients, healthcare professionals, and institutions.

The analysis reveals systematic cross-linguistic differences in how person-deictic resources are deployed, alongside a shared tendency to structure participant roles asymmetrically. While all three languages draw on distinct grammatical strategies, they converge in ways that raise important questions about how agency, responsibility, and institutional authority are distributed in consent discourse.

The webinar situates these findings within functional pragmatics and research on patient-centered communication, arguing that deictic choices are central to how institutional voice and patient agency are discursively constructed. It concludes by outlining implications for discourse analysis, translation studies, and the design of multilingual medical documents, suggesting that pragmatic features such as person deixis should be considered alongside readability in evaluating informed consent.

Bibliografía recomendada

Gómez González, M. de los Á., Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez, F. J., Gonzálvez García, F., & Downing, A. (Eds.). (2014). The functional perspective on language and discourse: Applications and implications (Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, Vol. 247). John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Halverson, C. M., & Schwartz, P. H. (2025). Informed consent and comprehension after the pragmatic turn. American Journal of Bioethics, 25(4), 61–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2025.2470652

Mány, D., Fogarasi, K., & Torzsa, P. (2024). Person deixis as a communicative tool in medical consultations. Ibérica, 48, 143–170. https://doi.org/10.17398/2340-2784.48.143