Forensic Linguistics

John Olsson was a lecturer in Forensic Linguistics in both the School of Linguistics and the School of Law at Bangor University, UK, and was head of the Forensic Linguistics Institute.June Luchjenbroers was Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at Bangor University, UK.Paul Pope is Associate Professor at Montana State University Billings in the Department of Social Sciences & Cultural Studies, USA.Michelle Aldridge-Waddon is a Reader in the School of English, Communication and Philosophy at Cardiff University, UK.

• List of figures List of tables Foreword AcknowledgementsPART ONE: Language as forensic evidence 1. Introduction to Forensic Linguistics2. The author constructed 3. Time, variation and genre 4. Range of variation 5. Textual variation 6. Forensic phonetics: An introduction by Harry Hollien 7. Cybercrime PART TWO: Dealing with linguistic evidence8. Forensic texts9. Forensic transcription 10. Forensic authorship in practice 11. Investigating author variation in naturalistic data 12. Forensic linguistic evidence in court The texts in the case The features in the texts Excerpts from prosecution reports Conclusion PART THREE: The legal process: Language and the law13. Power in legal contexts: The courts 14. Power in legal contexts: The police 15. Vulnerable witnesses PART FOUR: Language of the law 16. The law and us 17. The language of statutes Appendix 1. Forensic texts Appendix 2. Exercises and exercise commentaries Appendix 3. Active researchers in the field of forensic linguistics Bibliography Author Index Subject Index

Whether one is a legal language researcher, academic, and/or practitioner, Forensic Linguistics (4th Edition), continues its ongoing relevance as one of the seminal publications in our field. Its demonstrably knowledgeable authors relate not just information regarding the history and science of forensic linguistics, but also the laws governing it, applicable empirical research findings, and ideal social justice objectives in its real world usage. Most important to me, however, is the referenced practical applications, i.e., the how-to of working a language analysis case from beginning to end. This includes dozens of actual forensic linguistic case examples designed to further the reader's comprehension of taking a language-related matter before the courts. If one is, in fact, analyzing these matters, of any sort, as a member of law enforcement, a prosecuting attorney, a defense attorney, or in any aspect in the criminal/civil justice system involving spoken or written language, this book is a must read.