Logogenetic Patterns Of Chinese Criminal Courtroom Discourse

The participants in court are challenged by the scientific and systematic uses of languages against such a background that the reform of Chinese criminal proceedings aiming at a trial-centred system puts forward a substantialized trial which requires that four substantial procedures shall go through in court,i.e,examination,burden of proof,argumentation and judgement.Language in legal process has been a central topic in forensic linguistics since it came into being.Nevertheless,most researchers concentrate on the strategies and skills of language uses,the normality of language uses or more critically,on the power,identity and ideology.Nevertheless,few of them explore the logogenetic patterns of criminal courtroom discourse with the aim of finding out truth.Logogenetic patterns can serve as methodology for the judicial process to find out.Thus it is necessary for us to find the patterns to realize the reform of the criminal proceedings.This research is aimed at exploring the logogenetic patterns of criminal courtroom discourse in China so as to find out the logogenenetic patterns of reconstructing the reality in specific trial stages.In order to achieve this,the theory of logogenesis situated in systemic functional linguistics(SFL)is adopted and the meaning resources with a stratified model of sociosemiotics are taken as a toolkit for reconstructing the reality.The data we adopted is concerned about the trial of fraud.Seventeen trials were transcribed from the website called Live Court in China which are open to the public.two trials that are open to the public were taken down in shorthand during my audit in the court.Additionally,14 indictments and judgements were downloaded respectively from the website Case Information Disclosure of the People's Procuratorate of the P.R.China and Chinese Judgements Online.The research is conducted through four steps.Firstly,the overall logogenetic pattern of courtroom discourse is examined.From the departure of description of the paradigmatic courtroom discourse in the view of NEGOTIATION,we described the generic structure of the overall courtroom discourse,which is signaled by the paradigmatic courtroom discourse that also links the embedded genre at specific stages and makes up a logical genre relationship within the global generic structure.We also analysed the elements that drives or limits the logogenetic patterns of courtroom discourse from the perspective of context.Secondly,located in the paradigmatic framework of the global courtroom genre examined in the first step,the prosecutor's discourse is explored in two procedures: the announcement of the indictment and the examination.The construction of the reality in both procedures employs IDEATION and APPRAISAL,which sheds lights on the way in which the reality can be constructed with the constant but regular linguistic ways in judicial practice.Thirdly,the opposing discourse made between the prosecutors and the defense lawyers is approached and from the linguistic resources of CONJUNCTION and PERIODICITY,logical meanings are continually constructed and such discourse can be allied with the audience because the coupling of the internal CONJUNCTION and the theme can make the discourse logical.Finally,the judgement is approached from the ENGAGEMENT,the resources by which the court can figure out and make it understood the multi-instantiation and multi voices in the judgement.The research adopts a macro-&-micro descriptive method and a static-&-dynamic way,both a top-down and bottom-up way in exploring the logogenetic patterns of courtroom discourse.The overall courtroom genre is static,macro,while the local genre is dynamic and micro.Stratally,discourse semantics is a toolkit for description and genre is for interpretation.It is found that there are both a global logogenetic pattern realized by the global genre and three kinds of local logogentic patterns concerned with reconstructing the reality in the discourse of the prosecutor,the opposing sides and the judgement.Global patterns sets limits on the flow of meanings of the courtroom discourse.Meanwhile,it provides flexible semantic space for the local patterns.Vise versa,local patterns push forward the progression of the trial and made the global patterns whole and success.Specifically,paradigmatic courtroom discourse plays a vital role in constructing and signalling the generic structure and linking the interrelationship of the embedded genres within the global genre.In addition,the legal field,tenor and the goal are three parameters in affecting the logogenetic patterns of courtroom discourse.Furthermore,the logogenetic patterns of courtroom discourse are characterized as stage-specific meaning resources.The paradigmatic courtroom discourse is characterized by NEGOTIATION,prosecutor's construction of reality by IDEATION and coupling of IDEATION and APPRAISAL,the opposing sides' establishing alignment with audience by coupling of internal CONJUNCTION and PERIODICITY,and judgement teasing out the multi-instantiation and multi-voices by ENGAGMENT.Thus it is concluded that the set of toolkit of logogenesis of SFL,as a branch of appliable linguistics,in some extent,can resolve judicial issues concerned with language.Logogenetic patterns of Chinese courtroom discourse turn out to be both global and local ones.Finally,this research makes contributions to both linguistics and judicial practice.Theoretically,for the first,it is a creative attempt to push forward the study of logogenesis,in particular,the patterns of coupling in the meaning potential are found out for reference,which contributes to the development of logogenesis within the field of SFL.For the second,it goes beyond the discussion of linguistic strategies and skills in judicial practice and it is a thought-provoking attempt at exploring methodology behind linguistic phenomena.Practically,it sheds lights on linguistic ways in tackling judicial issues concerned with repeatedly constructing,reconstructing,deconstructing and another round reconstructing realities with the ongoing trial,which contributes to the realization of the goal of a substantial trial.Additionally,it makes a great stride towards the dialogue between the fileds of linguistics and judicial practice.