Conversation analysis in a US Senate Judiciary hearing

Questioning Brett Kavanaugh

Bibliographic Data

ID5966243
AuthorsTaneesh Kaur (San Francisco State University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume24
Issue4
Pages423-444
Publication date2022-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiscourse Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-4456 • E-ISSN: 1461-7080
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/14614456221099175
OpenAlexW4283797825
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited18

Through a ‘micro’ and ‘macro’ level analysis, this study focuses on elements of questioning and question design in the Senate Judiciary hearing conducted for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Specifically, two lines of questioning are analyzed: that of Kamala Harris, D. California, and that of Ted Cruz, R. Texas. Through an analysis that builds heavily on prior research that uses Conversation Analysis (CA) to understand the news interview, this study attempts to expand such research to institutional talk done by politicians in Congress. The analysis portion of the paper investigates, on a ‘micro’ level, the linguistic elements at play in each line of questioning. In the discussion section, a ‘macro’ level analysis situates the findings of this paper within the broader US political climate among the public and in terms of the growing conservatism of the Supreme Court

Conservatism · Conversation · Conversation analysis · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Supreme court · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Law · Multilingual Education and Policy

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