An Introduction to Forensic Linguistics

by Malcolm Coulthard, Alison Johnson, David Wright

An Introduction to Forensic Language in Evidence has established itself as the essential textbook written by leading authorities in this expanding field. The second edition of this bestselling textbook begins with a new introduction and continues in two parts.

Part One deals with the language of the legal process, and begins with a substantial new chapter exploring key theoretical and methodological approaches. In four updated chapters it goes on to cover the language of the law, initial calls to the emergency services, police interviewing, and courtroom discourse. Part Two looks at language as evidence, with substantially revised and updated chapters on the following key



the forensic linguist

forensic phonetics

authorship attribution

the linguistic investigation of plagiarism

the linguist as expert witness. The authors combine an array of perspectives on forensic linguistics, using knowledge and experience gained in legal settings – Coulthard in his work as an expert witness for cases such as the Birmingham Six and the Derek Bentley appeal, and Johnson as a former police officer. Research tasks, further reading, web links, and a new conclusion ensure that this remains the core textbook for courses in forensic linguistics and language and the law. A glossary of key terms is also available at and on the Routledge Language and Communication Portal.

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, Textbooks

270 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Hannah Lane]

For class🌞

[Carrie]

This is a young science and the authors do a good job of highlighting the need for maturity in the field and metrics.

[Bert]

Easy to read and engaging, with lots of text samples, although the authors' usage of certain terms didn't always line up exactly with what my lecturers were describing as standard. For a book describing itself as an "introduction" I felt like it occasionally glossed over a new concept -- nothing I couldn't work out from the context, just not as explicit as I normally expect from an introductory text. This was, however, pretty rare, and I expect you wouldn't notice these moments if you had any background at all in linguistics.

On its own I doubt this is adequate for self-studying the topic, but as a text for a university class it's one of the nicer ones I've had.