“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury” Uncovering Discursive and Linguistic Patterns in Closing Arguments in US Criminal Trials
Creators: name: Bouchrara, Cheima
Publisher: name: University of Surrey
Year: 2024

description: In a courtroom setting, language plays a pivotal role in the trial process, serving as a powerful
description: tool for presenting cases, examining witnesses, and persuading judges or juries regarding the
description: guilt or innocence of the defendants facing charges. While previous research, such as studies
description: by Drew (1992), Matoesian (1993), and Cotterill (2004), has predominantly focused on
description: witness examination within courtroom discourse, there has been a notable dearth of studies
description: delving into the language employed by lawyers during closing arguments (Rosulek, 2009).
description: This study addresses the identified research gap by shedding light on the language of closing
description: arguments, a critical phase of legal proceedings where opposing lawyers directly address the
description: jury.<br>
description: <br>
description: During closing statements, lawyers endeavour to convince jurors that their version of events
description: holds greater plausibility than that presented by opposing counsel, with the ultimate goal of
description: securing a favourable verdict. This thesis employs a combination of Corpus Linguistics and
description: Discourse analytical frameworks, to investigate lexico-grammatical features by analysing the
description: frequencies, collocations, and concordances within the closing arguments and explore specific
description: prominent features that contribute to the construction of lawyers' language during closing
description: arguments as well as the distinct linguistic persuasive strategies employed by the opposing
description: prosecution and defence. This study also uses move analysis, uncovering genre-based moves
description: that shed light on the different strategies opposing parties use during their closing statements.<br>
description: <br>
description: The findings reveal that, in the realm of closing arguments, language predominantly adopts a
description: plain and accessible style, with minimal use of legalese jargon, primarily restricted to
description: case-specific terminology. The study unveils the prevalence of specific parts of speech features
description: within pronouns, nouns, verbs, and adverbs, and establishes their connections to persuasive
description: strategies related to inclusiveness and otherness, the role of social actors, and the framing of
description: arguments. Furthermore, the results unveil a diverse array of rhetorical strategies, with a
description: particular focus on the consistent use of rhetorical questions throughout the closing
description: statements. Moreover, the analysis of the genre moves provides insights into a potential
description: overarching structure, despite variations in case specifics and argument lengths. This structure
description: encompasses a universal tripartite format observed on both sides and distinct moves for each
description: party ranging from appreciative and dramatic openings to the ultimate demands or requests
description: for a favourable verdict.<br>