A Study Of Discourse Markers In Chinese Courtroom Discourse Under The Principle Of Goal Direction

Courtroom discourse is a typical institutional discourse which is usually goal-directed and task-oriented. Recently the study of courtroom discourse has been the focus of forensic linguistics. That is because, from a linguistic point of view, courtroom discourse is imbued with recourses for linguistic research; from a legal perspective, study on courtroom discourse definitely enlightens and inspires both the law professionals and the lay participants involved in courtroom discourse. This thesis sets out to make a study on discourse markers in Chinese courtroom discourse with an aim to manifest the strategic use of discourse markers so that the functions and the practical value of discourse markers in Chinese courtroom discourse can be highlighted.Discourse marker usually refers to those words and expressions which do not contribute to the propositional content of the utterance in which they occur. It bears no syntactic significance, but it is highly pragmatically motivated. As discourse marker carries pragmatic and discourse meaning, it is an indispensable component of discourse.With the principle of goal direction formulated by Professor Liao Meizhen as the theoretical framework, specifically, focusing on two aspects of this principle: goal relation and goal interaction, this thesis adopts a descriptive and analytical way to examine discourse markers in Chinese courtroom discourse by exploring their classifications, applications and functions through the analysis of data collected and transcribed from six Chinese criminal and civil trials. The author hopes to reveal how participants' respective communicative goals in Chinese courtroom discourse are pursued and accomplished through tactic use of discourse markers, and how power is manifested in this process so as to unfold the goal-directedness of Chinese courtroom discourse and the strategy of the participants in the process of goal fulfillment.The first part of the thesis gives a brief introduction to the research background, the research aim, method, and data collection as well. Part two focuses on an overview of the previous study of DMs as well as courtroom discourse both broad and at home. It is discovered that most of the study on courtroom discourse are conducted from such perspectives as sociolinguistics, pragmatics and discourse analysis. Unfortunately only a few have mentioned discourse markers. As to the previous studies on discourse markers, study made in English is much more abundant than that in Chinese, since study on discourse markers concerning Chinese starts rather late; moreover such study is often sporadic. However, almost all the previous study on DMs has been made mainly from these three approaches: discourse-coherent approach, grammatical-pragmatic approach and cognitive-pragmatic approach. Among them only a handful of scholars have examined DMs in courtroom discourse. Part three sketches the theoretic framework by introducing a new research perspective—the principle of goal direction since courtroom discourse is strongly goal-directed.In part four, the author first describes the classifications of DMs in Chinese courtroom discourse. It is found out that such types of DMs as evidential marker, reformulation marker, topic management marker, manner of speaking marker, elaboration marker, mitigation marker and turn-taking marker abound in Chinese courtroom discourse. Then a detailed analysis of DMs is made in goal-convergent, goal-conflicting and goal-neutral relations to exhibit how DMs, as a discourse strategy, function to pursue and fulfill respective communicative goals. Finally from a macro viewpoint the author analyzes three main functions of DMs in Chinese courtroom discourse.In the last part, based on the authentic data used in this thesis, the author first summarizes the thesis, concluding that discourse marker is an effective linguistic strategy through which participants' communicative goals are fulfilled tactically; and that the diverse applications of DMs in Chinese courtroom discourse are motivated and constrained by participants' respective communicative goals. Then the practical as well as theoretical implications, limitations of the present study, and suggestions for further research are also included.Through the above analysis it is discovered that the diverse applications and functions of DMs in Chinese courtroom discourse are highly motivated as well as constrained by participants' respective communicative goals. Therefore, this study not only manifests the goal-directedness of Chinese courtroom discourse, but it also justifies that the principle of goal direction applies well in Chinese courtroom discourse, and that DMs in Chinese courtroom discourse deserve our concern. Above all, it enriches the study of DMs by formulating a new theoretical perspective. At the same time it also implies certain practical significance both to the law professionals and the lay participants in Chinese courtroom trials.