Nature of linguistic input

Some time after defendant's arrest, police located and seized a diary which apparently recorded many of the events of which defendant was accused. Defendant claimed he had only made entries in the diary after he had been accused because, he reasoned, as he had been accused he 'might as well' write the events down. The linguistic issue was whether the diary appeared to have been compiled contemporaneously with the events or whether there was any linguistic evidence to uphold the defendant's version, namely that the record was made significantly post-event. Linguist considered a number of other types of text which were either compiled historically or contemporaneously. It was suggested that contemporaneity vs historicity is a continuum, and that certain linguistic features are more readily associated with either historicity or contemporaneity. Cohesion and narrative coherence are two important factors in testing for contemporaneity. Diary was analyzed and it was concluded that it was contemporaneous with events. Outcome: Defendant was found guilty.

(retrieved from http://libcom.org/news/bnp-arsonist-in-court-13012006)

REVIEW: UNITS 1-2

I. Check yourself. Do you know:

· What is forensic science?

· What are two meanings of Forensics?

· What is forensic competition?

· What is the formal structure of an argument?

· What use of arguments do you know?

· What is Forensic linguistics?

· What language problems could be considered in civil cases?

· What is linguistic profiling of a person?

· What is the role of forensic linguist in a trial?

· What language problems do lawyers face in their professional communication?

II. PROJECT WORK:

· Study the guidelines on academic writing: http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm

· Do research, write and present a report on one of the following topics:

1. Development of Forensic linguistics.

2. Cross cultural aspects of Forensic linguistics.

3. Current problems of Forensic linguistics.

4. Language evidences in the court.

5. Forensic linguist in the court.

UNIT 3

Read the text: