The Cognitive Interpretation Of Courtroom Examination

This thesis is intended to bring conceptual integration theory into the analysis ofcourtroom examination and try to explore the cognitive operation hidden in thesrategies adopted by lawyers in the examination so that people can have a betterunderstanding of courtroom activities.Forensic linguistics, as a peripheral subject, has attracted more and moreattention from diverse intellectual backgrounds. As courtroom examination is thefocus of a trial, its research reasonably becomes the core of the study by manyscholars (Woodbury, 1984; Matoesian, 1993; Conley & O'Barr, 1998; Philips, 1998;Eades, 2000; Liao Meizhen, 2003). A review of the related literature in the recenttwenty years shows that the majority of the existing studies have been approachedfrom the following four perspectives, namely, rhetorical, sociolinguistic, conversationanalysis and pragmatic perspectives. These studies mainly highlight the social andpragmatic aspects of courtroom examination. Few of them have delved into themental operation of the courtroom proceedings. As is known, in a trial, the lawyer willundergo a series of cognitive processes when adopting various strategies inexamination so as to control the witness of the opponent. To make clear the cognitivemechanism hidden in these strategies adopted by lawyers in courtroom examination,conceptual integration theory is brought into the analysis.Conceptual integration theory, brought forward by Fauconnier and Turner(1998b) as a basic psychological cognitive mechanism, provides us "a mightycognitive tool" to know better about the world. Many scholars (Wang Shaohua,2001;Wang Wenbin & Lin Bo, 2002; Liang Yanchun, 2003) have applied this theoryto the analysis and explanation of various language phenomena, such as metaphor andmetonomy, euphemism, humor. From their research, we can see that this theory has amighty explanatory power upon the investigation of language and thought. Yet, inarguing that conceptual integration is a basic cognitive mechanism, we must showthat it can operate in all cognitive activities. Courtroom examination is a good manifestation of language and thought. Therefore, the application of conceptualintegration theory into the analysis of courtroom examination can provide a goodplatform to validate the generality of conceptual integration.Conceptual integration theory has a complete network, which functionsindependently according to a set of uniform structural and dynamic principles. Inblending, structures from input spaces are projected to a separate "blended" mentalspace. The projection is selective. Through completion and elaboration, the blenddevelops structure which are not provided by the input spaces. In the study, thecognitive interpretation of the three strategies adpoted by the lawyers in courtroomexamination is based on the framework that is subconsciously contained in thequestions posed by them. The framework is the proper viewpoints and commonknowledge that can be easily accepted by people. In the blended space, theframework helps finish completion and elaboration. As these two proceedings arerunning, the lawyers can fulfil their purposes.To sum up, the combination of conceptual integration theory with courtroomexamination will create a new perspective both for the reseach of conceptualintegration theory and for the general reseach of forensic linguistics.This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One presents a general picture ofthe current study, including the necessity and objectives as well as the organization ofthe thesis. Chapter Two is a review of the related literature on the theoretical researchof courtroom examination both at home and abroad in the recent twenty years. Itprovides readers with several different linguistic approaches taken towards courtroomexamination analysis, including the rhetorical approach, the sociolinguistic approach,the conversation analysis approach and the pragmatic approach. In the end, someevaluations of the previous approaches and the expected new contributions to thestudy of courtroom examination will be specified. Chapter Three introduces thetheoretical framework of the present study and gives a general illustration ofconceptual integration theory, including its theoretical background and development,the basic integration network and its applications. Chapter Four is the main concern ofthe whole thesis, devoted to bringing conceptual integration theory into the concrete analysis of courtroom examination. Several strategies adopted by lawyers inexamination will be analyzed and explained based on the network of the theory.Chapter Five is a summary of the analysis in previous chapters. Moreover, thelimitations of the present study are pointed out and suggestions for future research arealso proposed in this chapter.