Language use cannot be separated from its situational context; whatever we do when we interact is necessarily shaped by the situations, encounters, and relationships we find ourselves in. On the other hand, language also constructs contexts – how we are speaking or writing sets the stage for an interaction and will have great effects on what is accomplished through it.
This course will focus on a very particular type of language-in-context, the interface between language and crime, and its scientific study, the field of forensic linguistics. We are going to address this topic from various perspectives, drawing on relevant case studies but also conducting our own analyses. Aspects to be covered in class include: authorship identification, detecting plagiarism, witness narratives and statement analysis, vulnerable witnesses, voice identification, policespeak and courtroom interaction. We will get to know different methods to approach these areas of investigation, e.g. statistics, corpus linguistics, phonetic analysis, etc. Text types to be discussed range from fictional narratives to courtroom transcripts, threat texts, suicide letters, emergency calls, and hate mail.