Linguistic Adjustments Research Articles

Removing the Binary: An Exploration on the Impact Language has on Our Gender Perception

Language, as a reflection of societal values and beliefs, wields the power to shape perceptions of gender, often perpetuating a binary understanding through grammatical gender systems. The influence of the generic masculine and masculine norm within languages with dense grammatical gender reinforces this binary, marginalizing communities and centralizing power within the masculine form. Despite these challenges, endeavours towards gender neutrality within grammatical gender languages offer hope, particularly in their potential to benefit marginalized groups like the LGBTQ+ community. However, while recent advancements demonstrate potential for gender neutrality within language, the possibility of achieving a genuine ‘gender-free’ language remains a question, especially within grammatical gender languages and beyond. In order to begin answering this question, one needs to understand the concept of ‘gendered language’ and how it has impacted our perception of gender throughout history. It is also necessary to analyse how recent linguistic adjustments impact the LGBTQ+ community and the changes in attitudes towards non-binary spaces. By comparing attitudes towards gender in grammatical gender and genderless languages, we gain insight into the intricate relationship between language and societal norms. To do that one needs to look at the contemporary languages such as English, Spanish and Swedish, which are undergoing gender-neutral adaptations within the core lexicon and grammar. In addition to indigenous languages that have historically included a form of gender neutral language. In essence, this examination of language and gender dynamics offers the conclusion that it is possible to remove gender from language, yet cannot change the impact that gendered language has already had on society’s perception of gender.

Language Validation and Cultural Adaptation of the Italian Version of the Family Caregiver Quality of Life Scale.

Heart failure significantly impacts healthcare systems and society, affecting quality of life (QoL) due to its symptoms and continuous care needs. Nurses are crucial in managing heart failure, supporting both patients and caregivers who face physical, emotional, social, and spiritual challenges. The Family Caregiver Quality of Life (FAMQOL) scale evaluates caregivers' QoL across all dimensions. This study aims to translate and culturally adapt the FAMQOL from English to Italian, enhancing its utility in nursing research and practice to better identify and support caregiver well-being. Following EORTC guidelines (2017), the FAMQOL underwent linguistic validation and cultural adaptation. This included independent forward translations from English to Italian, back translations, and reconciliation discussions to produce a testable translation. A pilot test with 15 caregivers assessed the questionnaire's acceptability and comprehensibility. Linguistic adjustments ensured the questionnaire's understandability in Italian. Interviews confirmed its acceptability and comprehensibility, with minor modifications enhancing clarity. The translation process successfully adapted the FAMQOL for Italian caregivers. This tool is essential for nursing research and practice, providing a culturally relevant assessment of the burden of care. It allows targeted interventions to support health workers, intercepting the QoL of caregivers early and, consequently, the well-being of patients with heart failure.

Lost in Adaptation: Exploring the Phenomenon of Over-Translation in Arabic Translations of English Movies

This study examines the process of Arabic translations of English movies, focusing on their impact on cultural and linguistic fidelity. It uses comparative, textual, and linguistic analysis and audience perception surveys to understand the differences between the original English source material and the Arabic translations. The comparative analysis reveals significant differences in cultural references and humour between the two languages, with over-translation being a significant theme. However, the study acknowledges instances where fidelity to the source text is maintained, showcasing the translators’ success in preserving cultural authenticity. The textual analysis highlights occasional deviations from the original text due to cultural and linguistic adjustments, impacting the overall translation quality. The linguistic analysis examines translators’ strategies to bridge linguistic gaps, highlighting cases of over-translation and substantial deviations. The study also highlights translators’ challenges in conveying humour, wordplay, and cultural references within subtitles and dubbing constraints. Audience perception surveys reveal instances where translations fail to convey specific cultural nuances, indicating a minor loss of impact and understanding. The findings highlight the need for a refined and culturally sensitive approach to audiovisual translation to enhance the quality and authenticity of cross-cultural narratives.

Validation of the Brazilian Scale of Perceived Control Over Voice in the Present using Item Response Theory

this study aims to verify the stages of evidence of validity of the voice-adapted present perceived control scale (V-APPCS) in its translated and cross-culturally adapted version for the Brazilian Portuguese "Voice-Adapted Present Perceived Control Scale" and to estimate the psychometric measurements of the properties of its items based on the item response theory (IRT). the instrument underwent a process of translation and cross-cultural adaptation for the Brazilian Portuguese, the process was carried out by two qualified translators, native in the destination language, and fluent in the language and culture of origin. The first translated version of the protocol was forwarded to a back-translation, performed by a third bilingual Brazilian translator. The translations were analyzed and compared by a committee composed of five speech therapists who are specialists in voice and with proficiency in the English language. The empirical study used data from 168 individuals, 127 had voice problems and 41 vocally healthy ones. For the stages of validity evidence, the following analyses were performed: Cronbach's alpha, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and IRT. The stages of translation and cross-cultural adaptation allowed linguistic adjustments to be made so that the items were understandable and suitable for use in Brazil. The adequacy, structure, and application of the items were confirmed through the application of the final version of the scale in twenty individuals in a real context. The instrument in its Brazilian version presented good internal consistency, with bifactorial structure the exploratory factor analysis, besides presenting satisfactory values in the adjustment indexes of the model, confirming the structure of the confirmatory factor Analysis. The IT was applied to evaluate the parameters discrimination (a) and difficulty (b) of the items of the instrument; item 5 "I have control over my day-to-day reactions to the voice problem." Presented itself as a more discriminative item and item 8 "My reaction to the voice problem is not under my control." As an item of greater difficulty. The V-APPCS, translated, cross-culturally adapted, and validated, is robust and adequate to represent the construct in the Brazilian versions.

The Digital Chameleon: Factors Affecting Perceptions of Convergence in Computer-Mediated Communication

Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) is a framework used to analyze and predict linguistic and behavioral adjustments within interpersonal communication. As computer-mediated communication (CMC) becomes more prevalent, applying this framework provides insight into interpersonal communication via a screen. Two studies explored CAT applied to CMC with participants observing linguistic adjustments in text-message screenshots. Results indicated that likability, empathy, gender, and textisms each play a role in how we perceive and interact with others during digital communications. Implications are discussed.

Validation and Scoring of the Greek Version of the Strategic and Clinical Quality Indicators in Postoperative Pain Management (SCQIPP) Questionnaire

The aim of this study was to validate the Greek version of the Strategic and Clinical Quality Indicators in Postoperative Pain Management (SCQIPP) questionnaire. The study was designed as a prospective questionnaire survey. Overall, 210 elective surgical patients were included . SCQIPP consisted of 14 items that were scored on a five point scale. After the translation and linguistic adjustments, the tool was distributed to the surgical wards. Internal consistency reliability was assessed by Cronbach's alpha. The tool construct was generated by a principal axis factoring model with promax rotation. Base Cronbach's alpha was 0.814. Due to low inter-item and item-total correlations and the increase of Cronbach's alpha (0.834) when item two was deleted, 13 items were included in the current tool version. Factor analysis identified three district subscales: nursing care, pain management, and support. Subscale and convergent validity were confirmed. The mean score of the validated tool was 55.2 (Range: 44-63). A low level of care was highlighted in most items. The Greek version of the SCQIPP questionnaire is a valid and efficient tool for the evaluation of the quality of care of postoperative pain management.

MOTHERS LISTEN TO CHILDREN AND UNIQUELY ACCOMMODATE THEIR LANGUAGE WITH THEM

ABSTRACT Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) predicts that people adjust their language to match that of the other to promote comprehension, coordinate action, and facilitate harmonious relationships. CAT predicts that mothers will adjust their sentence length and complexity to match those of children. Prior tests of CAT confounded trait-like language use with accommodation; we refine the concept of accommodation using the theoretical logic of the Social Relations Model (SRM). We argue that (a) trait effects should be partitioned from unique relationship effects, (b) relationship effects are the appropriate estimate of accommodation, and (c) relationship (dyadic) reciprocity is the mechanism of accommodation. We tested our proposal in 152 mother-child dyads who interacted in play sessions. Mother and child language was recorded, transcribed, and coded. SRM revealed stable, trait-like individual differences in language used by each; however, this stability was much stronger among children than mothers. Both made unique reciprocal linguistic adjustments when interacting with specific adults or children. These results support a new theoretical perspective on communication accommodation and adult child-directed language.

Language, Truth, and Pedagogy

Early in the planning the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative, we realized that the encounter between Buddhism and contemporary science demanded that Buddhist logic and epistemology encounter Anglophone philosophy of science. A titanic clash of world views was anticipated, but as we began the conversation, we found something different. Many philosophical concerns were shared, but these problems were understood differently. While fundamental elements of epistemology, like observation and inference, had similar functions in both traditions, subtle differences in conceptualization challenged mutual intelligibility. Through thousands of years of erudite debate, each tradition had honed their tools. While each cut cleanly, they carved in different joints. This essay will briefly discuss the linguistic, philosophical, and pedagogical adjustments that made for mutual comprehensibility.

P485 Development and implementation of a remote monitoring tool for real-world assessment of mild, moderate and severe infectious complications in Inflammatory Bowel Disease patients

Abstract Background Immunomodulators and biologicals are cornerstones in the current management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), but are associated with increased risk of infections. Post-marketing surveillance studies are important to assess the risk for infectious side effects in real-world populations, yet mainly focus on severe infections. Data on mild and moderate infections in IBD patients are scarce, primarily since self-limiting infections and infections treated by the general practitioner are not systematically captured in surveillance registries. Mild and moderate infections take longer to clear in immunosuppressed patients, have a large impact on (work) disability and quality of life, and potentially precede severe infections. In the current study, we aimed to develop and implement a remote monitoring tool for real-world assessment of infections in IBD patients. Methods Through a structured iterative process with input from IBD specialists, nurse practitioners, and a comprehensive literature review, a 7-item Questionnaire comprising 15 different types of infections (covering e.g. upper/lower respiratory tract; urinary tract; eye; and skin infections) was developed to measure Patient-Reported Infections (PRIQ) with a recall period of 3 months. Infection severity was defined as either mild (self-limiting or requiring topical/local treatment), moderate (requiring oral antibiotic, antiviral or antifungal drugs) or severe (requiring hospitalization and/or IV treatment). To ascertain comprehensiveness and comprehensibility in the intended study population prior to implementation, in three rounds a total of 36 randomly selected IBD patients visiting the outpatient clinic were interviewed individually until saturation was reached. Results Overall, patient understanding of the PRIQ was good and cognitive interviews did not result in reduction of questionnaire-items. Analysis of feedback from interviews resulted in addition of definitions to certain response options (e.g. definition for antivirals) and minor linguistic adjustments to further improve patient understanding. A total of three patients (8.3%) raised concerns on the recall period of 3 months, which after expert consensus, did not result in alteration of the recall period. Next, the PRIQ was digitized and implemented in myIBDcoach, an established telemedicine platform for management of IBD. Conclusion We developed a remote monitoring tool (PRIQ) to assess patient-reported infections in IBD and ascertained patient understanding through cognitive interviewing. A prospective multicentre study using the myIBDcoach platform is ongoing to validate the PRIQ and subsequently report the risk of mild and moderate infections across different treatment regimens in IBD patients (NCT04151420).

Tradução e adaptação transcultural do Creighton Competency Evaluation Instrument para o Brasil

Resumo Objetivo: Traduzir para a língua portuguesa e adaptar transculturalmente para o Brasil o Creighton Competency Evaluation Instrument. Métodos: Pesquisa metodológica que adotou o referencial de Beaton para o processo de tradução e adaptação transcultural, que ocorreu em seis etapas: tradução, síntese das traduções, retrotradução, submissão ao comitê de especialistas, pré-teste e parecer do autor original. Participaram dois tradutores, dois retrotradutores e oito membros no comitê de especialistas. O pré-teste foi realizado com 32 participantes. Resultados: Após ajustes linguísticos, a [...]

Validity and reliability of the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 in Swedish for individuals with systemic sclerosis

BackgroundDepressive symptoms are common in rheumatic diseases and influence patients’ quality of life. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), which assesses symptoms of depression, is valid in English in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). However, the measurement properties of the PHQ-8 (short version of the PHQ-9) have not been evaluated in Swedish patients with SSc.ObjectiveTo investigate different aspects of validity and reliability of the PHQ-8 in Swedish (PHQ-8 Swe) for individuals with SSc.MethodsA total of 101 patients with SSc participated. Content validity was evaluated via interviews of 11 patients and 10 health professionals. Construct validity, internal consistency test–retest reliability, and floor/ceiling effects were evaluated in 90 patients.ResultsContent validity was satisfactory, but some linguistic adjustments were made. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a better fit for a two-factor structure. Moderate-to-strong correlations were found between the PHQ-8 Swe and scleroderma HAQ including VAS (rs = 0.4–0.7); Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue (rs = 0.7); RAND-36 subscales (rs = − 0.5 to − 0.8); and lung disease severity (Medsger scores) (rs = 0.4). There were weak correlations (rs = <0.4) between the PHQ-8 Swe and modified Rodnan skin score; and vascular, heart, and kidney disease severity. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.85, corrected item-to-total correlations were >0.40, and the ICC for the total score was 0.83. No floor/ceiling effects were found.ConclusionThe PHQ-8 Swe has satisfactory content validity and sufficient reliability in patients with in majority limited SSc. It is more strongly associated with self-reported disability, pain, disease interferences with daily activities, fatigue, and quality of life than with disease severity, except for a moderate association with lung severity.

Drug Nicknaming in Western Algeria

Illegal drug consumption is a long-run issue with a worldwide apprehension. Drug abusers identify themselves differently to remain far from public appearance and escape court institutions. Nicknaming drugs and their different types and forms constitute one way of drug abusing concealment and disguisement. Nicknaming involves a variety of practices that acquire full of positive and/ or negative connotations in society over time. Social practices carry cultural values that shape the nickname giver’s perception of the nickname bearer, a fact that can be reflected in the way the nickname is chosen within various fields. Nickname givers are alone responsible for allocating the exclusionary or inclusionary character to the nickname bearer. The present paper seeks to examine and analyse the various nicknames attributed to diverse types of such psychotropic substances by the Algerians with special reference to the west of multilingual and diglossic Algerian speech community. More particularly, how are drugs nicknamed in western Algeria? Which language varieties are involved in such nicknaming? Why are illegal drugs nicknamed at all? The findings at hand assign nicknames to physicality, mannerism, experience and/ or linguistic adjustments. Drug nicknaming nomenclature under study makes up importantly drug consumers’ secret language in the present setting.

Korean Cuties: Understanding Performed Winsomeness (Aegyo) in South Korea

Aegyo (performed winsomeness) is a layered articulation of behaviours, gestures, vocal and linguistic adjustments, narratives and fashions that serve to enact child-like charm and infantilised cuteness. It is a widely debated but poorly studied phenomenon observed especially among younger South Korean women and, more seldomly, among men. This article will provide a preliminary ethnographic description of aegyo based on the fieldwork performed in Seoul, Incheon and Seongnam in 2015 and 2016, supported by the results of two online questionnaires from early 2016. The article tackles three separate dimensions. First, it briefly relates aegyo to comparable articulations of performed winsomeness in the broader East Asian context. Second, it relates it to the elements of Korean traditional or indigenous knowledge. Third, it explores the meaning of these performances with regards to contemporary figurations of femininity and the local politics of gender, with aegyo seen as a marked but normalised multidirectional process between various social actors.

Translating and culturally adapting the shortened version of the Hospital Ethical Climate Survey (HECS-S) \u2013 retaining or modifying validated instruments

BackgroundThe Hospital Ethical Climate Survey (HECS) was developed in the USA and later shortened (HECS-S). HECS has previously been translated into Swedish and the aim of this study was to describe a process of translating and culturally adapting HECS-S and to develop a Swedish multi-professional version, relevant for paediatrics. Another aim was to describe decisions about retaining versus modifying the questionnaire in order to keep the Swedish version as close as possible to the original while achieving a good functional level and trustworthiness.MethodsIn HECS-S, the respondents are asked to indicate the veracity of statements. In HECS and HECS-S the labels of the scale range from ‘almost never true’ to ‘almost always true’; while the Swedish HECS labels range from ‘never’ to ‘always’. The procedure of translating and culturally adapting the Swedish version followed the scientific structure of guidelines. Three focus group interviews and three cognitive interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals. Furthermore, descriptive data were used from a previous study with healthcare professionals (n = 89), employing a modified Swedish HECS. Decisions on retaining or modifying items were made in a review group.ResultsThe Swedish HECS-S consists of 21 items including all 14 items from HECS-S and items added to develop a multi-professional version, relevant for paediatrics. The descriptive data showed that few respondents selected ‘never’ and ‘always’. To obtain a more even distribution of responses and keep Swedish HECS-S close to HECS-S, the original labels were retained. Linguistic adjustments were made to retain the intended meaning of the original items. The word ‘respect’ was used in HECS-S with two different meanings and was replaced in one of these because participants were concerned that respecting patients’ wishes implied always complying with them.ConclusionsThe process of developing a Swedish HECS-S included decisions on whether to retain or modify. Only minor adjustments were needed to achieve a good functional level and trustworthiness although some items needed to be added. Adjustments made could be used to also improve the English HECS-S. The results shed further light on the need to continuously evaluate even validated instruments and adapt them before use.

Pragmatics Communication Deficiencies and the Role of Gamification

The proper use of language for communication in any context is defined as Pragmatics. Pragmatics includes the linguistic adjustments made (what is said, how it is said, body language, appropriateness) in order to accomplish the communication goal. Children and adults may be referred for rehabilitation when pragmatic communication deficits have an impact on social functioning, employment, and family/marital relationships (Turkstra, et al., 2016). The aim of this study is to examine gamification as an alternative to supplement clinical assessment procedures of an individual’s communication deficiencies with a focus on pragmatics perception, which led to the creation of a mobile gamified procedure designed to collect data on pragmatics perception. The gamified procedure was created in Kahoot! and was played by a sample of two hundred and fifty-six (256) university students with non-acquired communicative deficits studying health related courses in Greece. Data on points scored, response accuracy and duration of time spent on of each language feature was recorded. A detailed description on students’ pragmatics abilities and motivation was reported. The results of the study described normative data concerning points scored, response time and accuracy of language features. Statistically significant differences were found between genders in terms of response accuracy and time for some language features. The gamified e-assessment has the clear potential to contribute innovatively to the clinical assessment procedures of pragmatic communicative deficits including the needs of individuals with developmental disorders, psychiatric disorders, acquired brain injury, neurodegenerative disorders in a motivating way along with current technological advances of face to face and/or telepractice services.

Cultural adaptation of the short Self-Regulation Questionnaire: suggestions for the speech area.

To present the translated and linguistic and culturally adapted version of the Short self-regulation Questionnaire (SSRQ) for the Brazilian Portuguese and to check its applicability to patients with dysphonia. The SSRQ is a tool used to evaluate the ability to self-regulate behavior; it has 31 items and generates three scores: total index of individual self-regulation capacity and partial scores for goal setting and impulse control. Each item should be scored by means of a Likert-type 5-point scale; the total score ranges from 29 to 145 points. The original instrument was translated and culturally adapted to Brazilian Portuguese by two English-speaking speech therapists who combined their translations and made linguistic adjustments to compose a single final version. This version was back-translated by a third speech therapist with experience in validation studies and without knowledge of the original instrument. The translation and the back-translation were compared with each other and with the original English version by five speech therapists that reached a consensus on additional changes. In this way, the final version was produced. This was called "Questionário Reduzido de Autorregulação" (QRAR). The QRAR was applied to 45 randomly chosen subjects with and without dysphonia in a teaching clinic. No item had to be eliminated, since the respondents did not find it difficult to indicate their answers. The "Questionário Reduzido de Autorregulação" (QRAR) has been successfully translated and culturally and linguistically adapted to Brazilian and Portuguese and can be applied to individuals with voice problems.

Os Gêneros Orais em Sala de Aula: Uma Proposta Pedagógica para Além da Comunicação Privada

O presente trabalho trata de uma investigação, de caráter intervencionista e aplicada, envolvendo gêneros orais formais, que culminou na realização de um debate de opinião com alunos do 9º ano de uma escola estadual de João Pessoa (PB) sobre o tema “Maconha: Manter Proibição ou Descriminalizar?”. Partimos do pressuposto de que a oralidade, principalmente em situações formais, é esquecida pela escola, o que compromete a formação integral de estudantes de Língua Portuguesa e, por isso, deve ser incentivada em sala de aula. O principal objetivo do procedimento foi instrumentalizar os estudantes para a produção competente e crítica de textos orais, especialmente na modalidade formal, ensinando-os a usar a língua, de forma adequada, em todos os contextos. Como parâmetro de intervenção, nos baseamos (com adaptações) no modelo de sequência didática de Dolz, Noverraz e Schneuwly (2004), levando em conta estratégias que permitissem aos estudantes compreender e produzir textos adequados ao gênero em questão, considerando seu estilo, conteúdo temático e estrutura composicional (BAKHTIN, 1997) e ainda tivessem desenvolvidas suas capacidades argumentativas. Como aporte teórico, recorremos a Antunes (2003), Reyzábal (1999), Koch (2011) e Marcuschi (1997, 2007, 2010), que nos subsidiaram no entendimento sobre oralidade, leitura, escrita, gêneros orais e debate. Além de Preti (2004) e Ramos (1997), que contribuíram no estudo do registro linguístico e gêneros orais formais e Ribeiro (2009); Fiorin (2015) e Leitão (2011), que tratam dos conceitos de argumentação, contra-argumentação e recursos argumentativos. Nossa análise tomou por base a comparação entre a primeira produção (cujo tema foi homofobia) e a última, considerado o trabalho desenvolvido durante os módulos. Foi possível detectar avanços como a caracterização, pelos alunos, do gênero debate de opinião, a partir da articulação de seus três elementos constituintes e a formulação de pontos de vista linguística, semântica e argumentativamente articulados, com o uso de recursos como a exemplificação, a exposição de fatos e a transitividade. Ao final, apresentamos uma sugestão de sequência didática sobre o gênero debate de opinião, baseada em nossa prática de sala de aula.

The Features of Maritime English Discourse

The aim of the present paper is to illustrate the linguistic features of Maritime English (ME) both as a type of specialized discourse in academic and professional sectors and as a vehicular language used to facilitate communication at sea. It is shown that this specific subset of English covers a wide spectrum, ranging from the language of highly technical written genres to simplified and standardized uses typical of spoken contexts. The analysis is conducted on data from the fields of maritime engineering, marine electronics and maritime law as well as on the transcription of an authentic conversation between a ship and a radio station and on the Standard Maritime Communication Phrases drafted by the International Maritime Organization. Despite some common representative characteristics of both written and spoken ME at the lexical-semantic level, the two registers appear as distinct from a wider pragmatic and textual perspective. The former exhibits greater variability and complexity due to the fusion of different writing styles, “languages” from other domains and textual functions, while the latter is generally marked by linguistic adjustments reducing it to a restricted language, limited in its scope and goal. The resulting image of ME is that of a multi-faceted language with a number of distinct features serving different purposes. Future studies on specialized discourse need to highlight the internal nature of the various domains under investigation in order to provide finer-grained descriptions of their organization.

The appreciation of cultural and linguistic adjustments in multilingual museum audio tours by international tourists

This paper discusses the question of whether House's theory on a cultural filter can be applied to the study of the appreciation of multilingual audio tours. According to House theory, cultural and linguistic adjustments of a target text to a specific target culture will have a positive effect on the appreciation and understanding of the information provided. This study analyses the appreciation of British and German users of the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum audio tour. Based on an institutional ethnographic investigation of the coming about and, subsequently, a contrastive text analysis of the German and English translation of the Dutch source text, three audio stops were selected for a field experiment at the museum. Two alternative versions were made: one linguistic manipulation of the text and one content manipulation of the text. In the linguistic manipulation, one of the five dimensions of crosscultural differences between English and German was manipulated, namely, orientation towards content versus orientation towards persons. The texts were presented to 30 British and 30 German visitors of the Rijksmuseum. Responses were measured using questionnaires composed by a multicultural team of Dutch, English and German native speakers and translators. The results of this field experiment do not seem to give a clear answer to the research question. However, the differences found indicate a trend that the linguistic adjustments are more appreciated and the content adjustments are appreciated less than the original version of the text. The study encourages the discussion between multimedia producers and museum curators with respect to the standardisation or cultural adjustment of audio tour translations.

GPs’ views concerning spirituality and the use of the FICA tool in palliative care in Flanders: a qualitative study

According to recent recommendations, healthcare professionals in palliative care should be able to perform a spiritual history-taking. Previous findings suggest that the FICA tool is feasible for the clinical assessment of spirituality. However, little is known about the views of GPs on the use of this tool. To provide a solid overview of the views of Flemish GPs concerning spirituality and the use of the FICA tool for spiritual history-taking in palliative care. Qualitative interview study in Flanders, Belgium. Twenty-three GPs participated in a semi-structured interview. The interviews were analysed by thematic analysis, which includes line-by-line coding and the generation of descriptive and analytical themes. The interviewees stated that they would keep in mind the questions of the FICA tool while having a spiritual conversation, but not use them as a checklist. The content of the tool was generally appreciated as relevant, however, many GPs found the tool too structured and prescribed, and that it limited their spontaneity. They suggested rephrasing the questions into spoken language. The perceived barriers during spiritual conversations included feelings of discomfort and fear, and the lack of time and specific training. Factors that facilitated spiritual conversations included the patients' acceptance of their diagnosis, a trusting relationship, and respect for the patients' beliefs. A palliative care process with attention focused on the patient's spirituality was generally perceived as a tough but rewarding experience. The study concludes that the FICA tool could be a feasible instrument for the clinical assessment of spirituality, provided that certain substantive and linguistic adjustments are made. Additional research is needed to find the most suitable model for spiritual history-taking, in response to the specific needs of GPs.