A Study On Repetition In Chinese Courtroom Discourse

Forensic linguistics is a somewhat newly recognized and prosperous study field researched both in China and other parts of the world. This branch is an interdisciplinary study of both law and language. The study of forensic linguists has gradually shifted its focus from written legal documents and texts to the interaction of courtroom discourse since 1970s. Courtroom discourse is imbued with recourses for linguistic research. This thesis sets out to make a study on repetition in Chinese courtroom discourse.Based on conversational analysis and question-response interactional theory, the author aims to have a research on repetition in courtroom discourse, exploring its forms, functions and characteristics differed among the institutional roles by adopting a descriptive, qualitative and quantitative way through the analysis of data collected and transcribed from six Chinese criminal and civil trials. Since courtroom discourse is an institutional discourse which is goal-directed and power-laden, the author also hopes to research on how participants with different institutional roles pursue their respective goal and how power is exerted in the courtroom by adopting repetition differently, with the expectation of contributing to the development of Chinese judicial system.This thesis first adopts a descriptive way to have a detailed description of various repetition forms in courtroom discourse. Since the courtroom interaction is realized through a series of question-response sequences, the repetition in courtroom discourse thus mainly occurs between the questioner and the respondent. According to the data analyzed, it is found that both the questioner and the respondent make other-repetition and self-repetition. When a respondent repeats the questioner, s/he may have a full or partial repetition. That is to say, s/he would repeat the whole question form or part of the question as an initiator in responding the question, both of which are realized through the typical question-response (Q-R) structure. In case of the questioner's repetition of the respondent, there also exists full repetition and partial repetition, both of which are realized mainly through one of the following four-step structures: "Q-R-ReR-F", "Q-R-ReR-F+E", "Q-R-ReR-E" and "Q-R-ReR+Qi-Ri", but not the typical "Q-R" structure, functioning mainly as confirmation request. Besides, both the questioner and the respondent may have a self-repetition, which can be full or partial.This thesis further adopts a qualitative way in studying the functions of repetition both from the micro and macro points of view. The micro functions of repetition are realized in discourse production, comprehension, connection and interaction. The interactional function of repetition can be further examined from different aspects like cooperation, topic management, confirmation, confirmation request, initiation and gap filler. The congruence of these micro functions facilitates the macro function of creating coherence in courtroom discourse.Finally, the author adopts a quantitative way in comparing the characteristics of repetition differed among the institutional roles, especially the difference between the judge/public prosecutor and the defendant according to data analysis of three criminal cases. It is found that in doing other-repetition, a judge or a public prosecutor carries out partial repetition more frequently than full repetition, functioning as confirmation request. In self-repetition, a judge or a public prosecutor also makes more partial repetition. A defendant in other-repetition carries out more partial repetition as the initiator of the response rather than full repetition to show their cooperation while in self-repetition, full repetition is employed more. In comparison, though both groups more frequently repeat others than repeat self, the judge and the public prosecutor repeat much more than that of the defendant, no matter in other-repetition or self-repetition. That is to say, repetition is more employed by the judge and the public prosecutor functioning as confirmation request in other-repetition or is more employed by them to require the defendant to respond the question again in self-repetition. This demonstrates that the powerful group in the courtroom discourse is the questioner. In a criminal courtroom, this powerful group is judges and public prosecutors.Based on the data used in this thesis, various repetition forms and functions are found in courtroom discourse. Courtroom participants' repetition takes on different characteristics, which presents different power status in the courtroom. Repetition as a strategy can be employed by courtroom participants to realize their perspective goal. Therefore, this research not only demonstrates the interaction of the courtroom discourse, but also implies certain practical significance both to the legal professionals and Chinese judicial system.