Description
Book SynopsisNow in its third edition, this practical introduction to forensic linguistics is required reading for students of language and the law. It includes: new chapters on identifying forensic texts and important interactional aspects of the language used in legal contexts an additional chapter on forensic phonetics by Harry Hollien, a world renowned forensic phonetician an appendix of forensic texts for student study, and even more exercises and suggestions for further reading a companion website with a repository of statements, notes and examples referred to throughout the text.
Trade Review[A]n extremely useful book for students and practitioners in a broad range of fields ... [including] law students, practising lawyers, students of applied linguistics, criminologists [and] police officers ... One of the strengths of the book is that real-life legal cases are referred to when illustrating theoretical points ... [A]n informative and accessible text. * New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics *
This book is vital reading for students and researchers of forensic linguistics and will undoubtedly help to cement interest in the field. It is stunningly comprehensive, addressing a generous range of forensic-related themes and issues: from cyber-terrorism to suicide notes. It takes in spoken, written and computer-mediated communication, examines, in detail, key studies and cases, and is written in a limpid and engaging style. The book also usefully includes a number of practical exercises and insightful commentaries which will prove invaluable to readers wishing to sharpen their forensic analytical sensibilities. This new edition of Forensic Linguistics is a joy to read, and I will be recommending it to all of my students interested in the interface between language and society. -- Kevin Harvey, Lecturer in Applied Sociolinguistics, University of Nottingham, UK
Table of ContentsIntroduction. Part I: Language as Forensic Evidence 1. The road to authorship 2. The author constructed 3. Time, variation and genre 4. Range of variation 5. Textual Variation 6. Forensic phonetics 7. Cybercrime Part Two: Dealing with linguistic Evidence 8. Forensic texts 9. Forensic transcription 10. Forensic authorship in practice 11. Investigating author variation in naturalistic data 12. Forensic linguistic evidence in court Part Three: The legal process: Language and the law 13. Power in legal contexts: The courts 14. Power in legal contexts: The police 15. Vulnerable witnesses Part Four: Language of the law 16. The law and us 17. The language of statutes Appendix 1: Forensic texts Appendix 2: Exercises and exercise commentaries Appendix 3: Active researchers in the field of the forensic linguistics Bibliography Author Index Subject Index
