Assistant Professor of Linguistics

Sarah Bigi received her PhD in Linguistics from Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milano. Since 2008, she conducts research on doctor-patient dialogues in different clinical settings, mainly in the field of chronic care. Her main research is concerned with the analysis of the structure and functions of argumentative discourse within medical consultations. In this area she has analyzed the argument from authority and different argument types used by doctors. Her most recent research analyzes consultations as activity types, identifying and describing the various discourse types that contribute to their development.

She is the Co-Chair of pEACH, a committee within EACH-International Association for Communication in Healthcare, aimed at favoring the translation of knowledge on quality communication in healthcare from academia to practice and policy. She is Guest Editor of the ‘Position Papers Series’ in the journal Patient Education and Counseling.

• Macagno, F., & Bigi, S. (2019). Analyzing dialogue moves in chronic care communication – Dialogical intentions and customization of recommendations for the assessment of medical deliberation. Journal of Argumentation in Context, 8/3, pp. 337-368.
• Bigi, S. (2018). The role of argumentative practices within advice-seeking activity types. The case of the medical consultation. Rivista italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio, 12/1, pp. 42-52.
• Macagno, F. & Bigi, S. (2017). Analyzing the pragmatic structure of dialogues. Discourse Studies, 19/2, pp. 148-168.
• Bigi S. (2016). Communicating (with) care: A linguistic approach to the study of doctor-patient interactions. Amsterdam: IOS Press.

See CV at Institutional webpage.

Collaborations and projects at Healthy Reasoning Lab.