Questions and answers in the English courtroom (1640-1760) : a sociopragmatic analysis / Dawn Archer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Archer, Dawn.

Series:

Pragmatics & beyond ; new ser., v. 135.

Pragmatics & beyond, 0922-842X ; new ser., v. 135

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Examination of witnesses--England--History--18th century.

Examination of witnesses.

Examination of witnesses--England--History--17th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (388 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : J. Benjamins Pub., c2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book belongs to the rapidly growing field of historical pragmatics. More specifically, it aims to lend definition to the area of historical sociopragmatics. It seeks to enhance our understanding of the language of the historical courtroom by documenting changes to the discursive roles of the most active participant groups of the English courtroom (e.g. the judges, lawyers, witnesses and defendants) in the period 1640-1760. Although the primary focus is on questions and answers, this book also analyses the use of eliciting and non-eliciting devices (e.g. requests and commands) as a means of demonstrating similarities and differences over time. Particular strengths of this work include the study of different types of trial, making the results potentially more representative of the courtroom in general, and the innovative discourse analytic approach, which blends corpus methodology and sociopragmatic analysis, thereby enabling the quantitative analysis of functional phenomena.

Contents:

Questions and Answers in the English Courtroom (1640-1760)

Editorial page

Title page

LCC Data

Table of contents

Preface

List of tables and figures

1. Investigating the English historical courtroom

1.1 A brief outline of the book's focus and the approach taken

1.2 Pragmatics, historical pragmatics and sociopragmatics: Some definitions

1.3 The data and methodological problems facing historical pragmaticians

1.4 Availability of historical courtroom data

1.5 Primary objectives of this study

1.6 How I intend to proceed

2. The characteristics of questions and answers

2.1 Defining questions and answers

2.2 What constitutes a 'question'?

2.3 What constitutes an 'answer'?

2.4 Questions and answers in an historical context

2.5 Insights gained

3. Questioning procedures in courtrooms

3.1 Courtroom talk as 'activity type'

3.2 The courtroom today

3.3 Questioning strategies in the courtroom

3.4 The EarlyModern English courtroom

3.5 Review of the linguistic literature relating to historical courtroom discourse

3.6 Insights gained

4. A systematic approach to context identification and analysis

4.1 Rationale behind methodology

4.2 Description of the sociopragmatic corpus (SPC)

4.3 The sociopragmatic annotation scheme

4.4 Annotation scheme for questions and answers

4.5 Some final comments

5. Questions in the historical courtroom (1640-1760)

5.1 A sociopragmatic account of courtroom questions

5.2 The form of questions in the SPC

5.3 Indirect interrogatives

5.4 Questions as a means of control

5.5 Questions as part of a questioning sequence

5.6 Examinations-in-chief and cross-examinations

5.7 A sociopragmatic approach to questions: Investigating user as well as use

6. Interactional intent of participants' utterances.

6.1 Investigating questions from the perspective of the user

6.2 Participant roles evidenced in the SPC

6.3 The five main questioners in the EmodE courtroom (1640-1760): The courts, the prosecution counsels, the judges, the defence counsels and the defendants

6.4 Insights gained

7. Judicial examiners' questioning strategies

7.1 Examiners' questions - a manifestation of power?

7.2 The judge

7.3 The Court and the recorder

7.4 The judges' interaction with witnesses (1640-1760)

7.5 Jeffreys' interaction with witnesses

7.6 The Courts' interaction with witnesses (1720-1760)

7.7 The judges' interaction with defendants (1640-1760)

7.8 Insights gained

8. Lawyers' questioning strategies (1640-1760)

8.1 The emergence of counsel as major players?

8.2 Strategies of the prosecution counsels

8.3 Strategies of the defence counsels (1680-1760)

8.4 The prosecution counsels' interaction with witnesses (1640-1760)

8.5 The defence counsels' interaction with the witnesses

8.6 Questioning the questioners

8.7 Insights gained

9. Defendants' strategies (1640-1760)

9.1 The multiple discourse goals of defendants

9.2 The defendants' strategies

9.3 Eliciting devices utilised by defendants when interacting with judges and witnesses

9.4 The defendants' use of questions with witnesses and judges

9.5 Defendants' 'answering' strategies

9.6 Insights gained

10. Witnesses' 'answering' strategies (1640-1760)

10.1 The witnesses' role as 'answerer'

10.2 The strategies of the witnesses

10.3 Witnesses' interaction with the judges (1640-1719)

10.4 Witnesses' interaction with the lawyers (1680-1719)

10.5 The witnesses' interaction with the Court and defendants (1720-1760)

10.6 Insights gained

11. Courtroom interaction in the historical period.

11.1 Participants' use of 'requests', 'requires' and 'counsels'

11.2 The judges' interaction with defendants (1640-1679)

11.3 The judges' use of 'requires'

11.4 The defendants' use of 'requests'

11.5 The prosecution counsels' use of 'requests'

11.6 The defendants' use of 'requires' and 'counsels'

11.7 Insights gained

12. Concluding comments

12.1 Approach adopted in this work

12.2 1640-1760: A period of emerging and changing roles

12.3 The efficacy of using contemporary approaches to examine historical data

12.4 Questions: Not just the preserve of the primary examiners

12.5 The need to go beyond a study of questions and answers

12.6 Implications for questions generally

12.7 Implications for answers

12.8 A corpus-based approach to pragmatic phenomena: How successful?

12.9 Plans to expand the trial texts in the Sociopragmatic Corpus

Notes

Appendix 1

Biographical details for participants

Appendix 2

Bibliography

Author index

Subject index

the Pragmatics &amp

Beyond New Series.

Notes:

Originally presented as the author's thesis.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [347]-364) and indexes.

ISBN:

9786612156724

9781282156722

1282156721

9789027294432

9027294437

OCLC:

233696905