John Mutambwa, Nhamo Kutsaru

Power Relations in Courtroom Discourse

Transcripts of trials in a criminal court

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

The study was conducted to analyse power relations in courtroom discourse with reference to trial transcripts at Mt Darwin Magistrate s Court. The objectives of the study were to describe the power relations that exist between the courtroom participants. In addition, this study made an analysis of how language is used as a symbol of power in courtroom interactions. The study adopted a qualitative approach and used participant observation as a data gathering technique. The analytical framework used was Fairclough s (1989) Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Brown and Levinson s (1987) politeness theory. From the study, it emerged that courtroom conventions constrain the content, form and style of the language used by lay persons. Also, the courtroom conventions impose a degree of politeness to be observed in the court and this has a direct effect on language use. Among the legal professionals themselves, power imbalances exist and the magistrate seems to wield a lot of power andhas the overall and final say in all courtroom proceedings.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Dictus Publishing
• Seitenzahl: 80
• Erscheinungstermin: 24. Mai 2011
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 220mm x 150mm x 5mm
• Gewicht: 123g
• ISBN-13: 9783844397628
• ISBN-10: 3844397620
• Artikelnr.: 33556726

Autorenporträt

John tiene un Certificado de Educación de Morgan, un colegio asociado de la Universidad de Zimbabwe, una licenciatura en educación en inglés y una maestría en educación de idiomas: inglés. Trabaja como conferenciante de fondo en UZ. Nhamo tiene una licenciatura con honores en inglés de la UZ y enseña inglés en la escuela secundaria.