The impact of primary language on the performance of medical undergraduates in communication skills

Most medical schools use English as the language of communication and learning. This paper reports the findings of a study designed to evaluate the impact of primary language on learning communication skills in undergraduate curriculum. Subjects were enrolled in a course of communication skills delivered in English. After completing the course, their ability to communicate in English and Arabic (their primary language) was assessed. The working hypothesis was that "students who learn communication skills in English as a language of instruction, will communicate more satisfactorily in their mother tongue (Arabic) than in English", The results showed that, in general, students performed better in Arabic than English. However, cluster analysis showed that about 40% could communicate satisfactorily in both languages, about half could communicate well in Arabic only and that 10% failed to communicate appropriately in Arabic and in English. It seems that our sample did learn communication skills, but their ability to utilize these skills may depend on their English language expression skills. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.