The Attitudes Towards the Use of Anglicisms in the Croatian Language of Medicine

Abstract

In this research paper, we will explore the laypersons’ attitudes towards the use of Anglicisms in medical language. Some communication difficulties may arise between patients and their doctors because patients’ knowledge of medicine and medical terminology is insufficient. Therefore, they often remain uninformed and misunderstood. A questionnaire-based study was carried out among 100 laypersons in Rijeka, Croatia. It aimed to explore understanding, acceptance, use, and need for Croatian equivalents, which show their attitudes towards using Anglicisms in medical communication. The findings show some statistically significant differences in terms of understanding and use of Anglicisms with respect to the age of the respondents and the level of their education. The respondents mainly justify the use of English medical terms in medicine when there is no adequate Croatian equivalent. However, a high percentage of them support the need for creating Croatian equivalents, which should be more understandable and transparent than the English ones. We can conclude that Anglicisms are widely used in the Croatian medical language, but the Croatian equivalents should be created in collaboration between doctors and linguists.