Methodological Considerations in Constructing a Theoretical Framework of Terminological Awareness in Healthcare Communication

Abstract

When constructing a theoretical framework, one necessarily raises the question how it can be ensured that the theory emerging will be internally valid and robust. While there are meticulous ways of validating an empirical research instrument, theoretical validation is less elaborated in language pedagogy research. Therefore, this paper attempts to explore systematic ways of building a theoretical framework and to set certain criteria for evaluating it. The thus established analytical framework is then applied to a theoretical framework of terminological awareness in healthcare communication. Since this framework is still under construction, the systematic evaluation is used to suggest ways of improvement.