Overview of the interface of language and the law, illustrated with authentic data and contemporary case studies. Topics include collection of evidence, discourse, courtroom interaction, legal language, comprehension and forensic phonetics.

Now 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.

The Routledge Handbook of Forensic Linguistics provides a unique work of reference to the leading ideas, debates, topics, approaches and methodologies in Forensic Linguistics. Forensic Linguistics is the study of language and the law, covering topics from legal language and courtroom discourse to plagiarism. It looks at the linguist as expert providing evidence for the defence and prosecution, investigating areas from blackmail to trademarks and warning labels. The Routledge Handbook of Forensic Linguistics includes a comprehensive introduction to the field written by the editors and a collection of thirty-seven original chapters written by the world’s leading academics and professionals, both established and up-and-coming, designed to equip a new generation of students and researchers to carry out forensic linguistic research and analysis. The Routledge Handbook of Forensic Linguistics is the ideal resource for undergraduates or postgraduates new to the area. Malcolm Coulthard is Professor of Forensic Linguistics at Aston University, UK. Author of numerous publications, the most recent being An Introduction to Forensic Linguistics (co-authored with Alison Johnson, Routledge, 2007). Alison Johnson is Lecturer in Modern English Language at Leeds University, UK. Previous publications include An Introduction to Forensic Linguistics (co-authored with Malcolm Coulthard, Routledge, 2007). Contributors: Janet Ainsworth, Michelle Aldridge, Dawn Archer, Kelly Benneworth, Vijay Bhatia, Ronald R. Butters, Deborah Cao, Malcolm Coulthard, Paul Drew and Traci Walker, Bethany Dumas, Diana Eades, Susan Ehrlich, Fiona English, Tim Grant, Peter Gray, Gillian Grebler, Mel Greenlee, Sandra Beatriz Hale, Chris Heffer, Elizabeth Holt and Alison Johnson, Kate Howarth, Michael Jessen, Krzystof Kredens and Ruth Morris, Greg Matoesian, Gerald McMenamin, Frances Rock, Laura Felton Rosulek, Nancy Schweda-Nicholson, Roger Shuy, Lawrence Solan, Elizabeth Stokoe and Derek Edwards, Peter Tiersma, Tatiana Tkaèuková, David Walsh and Ray Bull, David Woolls, and Jerome Bruner.

Forensic Linguistics is an introduction to the fascinating interface between language and the law. Provides an integrated and fully theorized understanding of language and law issues. Contains many helpful examples from genuine legal contexts and texts. Discusses linguistic sources of disadvantage before the law, particularly for ethnic minorities, children and abused women.

Now 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.

From the accusation of plagiarism in The Da Vinci Code, to the infamous hoaxer in the Yorkshire Ripper case, the use of linguistic evidence in court and the number of linguists called to act as expert witnesses in court trials has increased rapidly in the past fifteen years. An Introduction to Forensic Linguistics: Language in Evidence provides a timely and accessible introduction to this rapidly expanding subject. Using knowledge and experience gained in legal settings – Malcolm Coulthard in his work as an expert witness and Alison Johnson in her work as a West Midlands police officer – the two authors combine an array of perspectives into a distinctly unified textbook, focusing throughout on evidence from real and often high profile cases including serial killer Harold Shipman, the Bridgewater Four and the Birmingham Six. Divided into two sections, 'The Language of the Legal Process' and 'Language as Evidence', the book covers the key topics of the field. The first section looks at legal language, the structures of legal genres and the collection and testing of evidence from the initial police interview through to examination and cross-examination in the courtroom. The second section focuses on the role of the forensic linguist, the forensic phonetician and the document examiner, as well as examining in detail the linguistic investigation of authorship and plagiarism. With research tasks, suggested reading and website references provided at the end of each chapter, An Introduction to Forensic Linguistics: Language in Evidence is the essential textbook for courses in forensic linguistics and language of the law.

Researching Forensic Linguistics is an informative, hands-on guide to conducting research in forensic linguistics that can underpin legal and justice practices and address social justice problems involving language. Georgina Heydon takes readers step by step through the research process using case studies that draw on different types of forensic and legal language data such as police interviews, anonymous reports of sexual assault, threatening letters and justice stakeholder interviews. Each chapter is framed by a language problem arising from either forensic linguistic case work or a key issue in language and the law. Up-to-date research methods in forensic linguistics are presented, including authorship attribution using online corpora, practice-based linguistic analysis and experimental techniques. This is an ideal companion for linguists who want to apply their skills to a forensic setting, practitioners in the legal and justice fields seeking to understand how linguistic analysis can support their work, and any student undertaking research in forensic linguistics within English language, linguistics, applied linguistics and legal studies.

Ted Kaczynski's manifesto. The ransom note for Jon Ben Ramsey. The anthrax letters threatening our government and media agencies. With the aid of forensic linguistics, the words criminals leave behind in their unsigned letters can be as distinctive as a signature or voice. Although the linguistic study of language is well established,

This volume functions as a guide to the multidisciplinary nature of Forensic Linguistics understood in its broadest sense as the interface between language and the law. It seeks to address the links in this relatively young field between theory, method and data, without neglecting the need for new research questions in the field. Perhaps the most striking feature of this collection is its range, strikingly illustrating the multi-dimensionality of Forensic Linguistics. All of the contributions share a preoccupation with the painstaking linguistic work involved, using and interpreting data in a restrained and reasoned way.

This book presents a framework for translation-mediated forensic analysis to deal with problems that require special techniques, procedures and methodologies not normally found in a recently developing branch of linguistics called Forensic Linguistics.