Semantic Density and Gravity in Lay-oriented Medical Knowledge Communication II: The Case of Patient Information Leaflets

Abstract

This article investigates a lay-oriented medical genre, viz., the small type of brochure (the so-called Patient Information Leaflet (PIL)) that accompanies the packaging of medicinal products, providing basic information about the drug in question, particularly its use. The study draws a semantic profile of the texts in order to establish the character, and in particular the degree of challenge for lay readers, of the knowledge communication taking place in the genre. For analytical methodology, a framework derived from Legitimation Code Theory is used to analyze semantic density (complexity of meaning) and semantic gravity (strengths of context-dependence), on the assumption that semantically dense and context-independent texts may be challenging for certain groups of readers. Analytical results reveal that very different strengths of semantic density are represented in all texts, and the same is true for semantic gravity. Based on the analytical results, the PIL genre is then profiled in terms of its semantic codes. The conclusion is that PILs are a highly composite genre that integrates a multitude of codes, thus requiring a relatively high degree of versatility in coding orientation on the part of readers.