The Pragmatics of Courtroom Discourse: Saving One’s Face in the Witness Box
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2009 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Based on linguistic evidence of face-threatening acts in the replies of inexperienced witnesses in the Shipman trial, the presentation sets out to identify discursive strategies used subconsciously by witnesses in order to protect their face, which may be under threat owning to their lack of knowledge/lapses in memory. It documents how witnesses may try to be as cooperative as possible in order to deflect further potential face-threatening acts in the form of the counsel's questions. |