Language as a barrier to the acquisition of anatomical knowledge

Abstract

The language of instruction for medical students at the University of Hong Kong is English, which is their second language. This presents a potential barrier to their academic learning. We have studied the extent of this problem by looking at the amount of terminology students have to assimilate during their anatomy course and the way in which the terminology is structured and explained (this provides, more generally, an indication of the factual loading to which medical students are exposed). We have also investigated the effect of the quality of students' language skills on their examination results in anatomy class tests and MBBS exams. It was found that students' entrance levels in English correlated well with their final examination results and that the quality and quantity of their English also correlated highly with scores in class tests. On this basis, we conclude that language is one of the most important barriers to students' academic success in the department and that current teaching materials may not be appropriate.

Evaluation of the Clinical Anatomy Program in the Medical School of Porto by two cohorts of students

“…Most of the students preferred using Brazilian translations of English textbooks, even though they ought to be competent in English, which is obligatory in high school. This may support the view that language can constitute a barrier to the academic success of students (Lucas et al, 1997).…”

Predicting performance at medical school: can we identify at-risk students?

“…The low correlation of English language scores with other grades was surprising, because much has been written about the difficulties of studying medicine as an English second language learner 22–28. A recent study of the transferable skills of incoming Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences medical students who were followed up a year later, suggest that language is a barrier to academic achievement 29.…”

Concepts of variation and normality in morphology: Important issues at risk of neglect in modern undergraduate medical courses

“…It involves the acquisition of a substantial new vocabulary (Lucas et al, 1997) and requires the generation of three dimensional mental images which many students find difficult. For medical students, anatomy provides much of the language for communication about patients, and is essential for general clinical practice, especially physical examination (McDonald, 1992;Monkhouse, 1993).…”