Forensic Linguistics

An Overview of the Intersection and Interaction of Language and Law

Bibliographic Data

ID12866110
AuthorsMaite Correa (0000-0002-9970-5654, Colorado State University, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume0
Issue23
Publication date2013-12-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies About Languages (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1648-2824 • E-ISSN: 2029-7203
PublisherKaunas University of Technology (KTU) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.5755/j01.sal.0.23.5020
OpenAlexW2065952803
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited14

Forensic Linguistics (FL) is a relatively new subfield within applied linguistics that studies the different intersections between language and the legal field, which is heavily linguistic by nature. In order to have a fair, legal and effective procedure, anyone involved in a legal process (lawyers, judges, police officers, members of a jury, etc.) benefits from possessing a certain awareness of linguistic principles. With this purpose, the expert testimony of a linguist could contribute to the understanding or recognition of possible interpretations or points of view that might have gone otherwise unnoticed. This article provides the general linguist with an overview of the broad field of FL and highlights the different ways the discipline can contribute to the criminal justice system. It presents a summary of some of the most well-known and discussed legal cases and outlines the intersections between applied linguistics (mainly pragmatics, discourse analysis, and sociolinguistics) and this emerging field in three interrelated areas: (1) language as the medium of communication between law enforcement authorities and suspects/witnesses or as the medium of legal argumentation in the courtroom, (2) language of the law (issues of intelligibility, interpretation and construction of legal language), and (3) crimes of language and linguistic evidence (use, validity, and reliability in the courtroom). Challenges and limitations of the field are also discussed. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.0.23.5020

Applied linguistics · Argumentation theory · Comparative law · Epistemology · Intelligibility (philosophy · Legal psychology · Linguistics · Philosophy of law · Political science · Pragmatics · Quantitative linguistics · Sociocultural linguistics · Sociolinguistics · Sociology · Deception detection and forensic psychology · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Law · Philosophy · Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism

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