1887
image of Interrogation as domination
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

This study examines the question types, witness responses, and Gricean maxim violations in Filipino and English courtrooms and analyzes how language mediates legal power and evidentiary control. Both languages employ open-ended questions in direct examination and closed-ended ones in cross-examination. Filipino transcripts exhibit five hybrid question forms absent in English, reflecting heightened institutional asymmetry, especially in courts with no interpreters. These structures exacerbate power asymmetry between the witness and interrogator. Witness responses include clarification, compliance, and two newly identified types: complete and incomplete. The maxim of quantity is most frequently violated in both languages through open-ended questions, leading to overinformative responses. Violations of manner, relevance, and quality reflect cognitive strain and institutional pressure. Findings call for a forensic pragmatics lens to examine how courtroom discourse operates under institutional constraints and attest that the courtroom is not a neutral vehicle for truth but a discursive battleground that reflects linguistic asymmetries and institutional power.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/prag.25061.fra
2026-05-26
2026-06-07
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Aldosari, Bader Nasser
    2024 “Questioning Strategies in Courtrooms.” World Journal of English Language (): –. 10.5430/wjel.v14n2p376
    https://doi.org/10.5430/wjel.v14n2p376 [Google Scholar]
  2. Andrews, Samantha J., Michael E. Lamb, and Thomas D. Lyon
    2015 “Question Types, Responsiveness and Self-Contradictions When Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys Question Alleged Victims of Child Sexual Abuse.” Applied Cognitive Psychology (): –. 10.1002/acp.3103
    https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3103 [Google Scholar]
  3. Ary, Donald, Lucy Jacobs, and Asghar Razavieh
    2002Introduction to Research. 6th ed.Wadsworth.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Ayunon, Chirbet
    2018 “Gricean Maxims Revisited in FB Conversation Posts: Its Pedagogical Implications.” TESOL International Journal (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Barth, Richard P.
    2015 “Commentary on the Report of the APSAC Task Force on Evidence-Based Service Planning Guidelines for Child Welfare.” Child Maltreatment (): –. 10.1177/1077559514563785
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559514563785 [Google Scholar]
  6. Beikian, Ali
    2024 “A Critical Analysis of Mirza Reza Kermani’s Interrogation through Grice’s Conversational Maxims with the Assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).” Critical Applied Linguistics Studies (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Catoto, Jerson S.
    2017 “On Courtroom Questioning: A Forensic Linguistic Analysis.” IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Ceballos, Crystel T., and Rowena V. Sosas
    2018 “On Court Proceedings: A Forensic Linguistic Analysis on Maxim Violation.” Journal of Nusantara Studies (JONUS) (): –. 10.24200/jonus.vol3iss2pp17‑31
    https://doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol3iss2pp17-31 [Google Scholar]
  9. Cotterill, Janet
    2003Language and Power in Court: A Linguistic Analysis of the OJ Simpson Trial. 1st ed.Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1057/9780230006010
    https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230006010 [Google Scholar]
  10. Coulthard, Malcolm, and Alison Johnson
    2007An Introduction to Forensic Linguistics: Language in Evidence. 1st ed.Routledge. 10.4324/9780203969717
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203969717 [Google Scholar]
  11. eds. 2010The Routledge Handbook of Forensic Linguistics. London: Routledge. 10.4324/9780203855607
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203855607 [Google Scholar]
  12. Drew, Paul, and Marja-Leena Sorjonen
    1997 “Institutional Dialogue.” Discourse as Social Interaction: –.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Freedman, Daniel X.
    1988 “The Meaning of Full Disclosure: Collegial Trust in Science.” Archives of General Psychiatry (): –. 10.1001/archpsyc.1988.01800310099017
    https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1988.01800310099017 [Google Scholar]
  14. Gibbons, John
    2003Forensic Linguistics: An Introduction to Language in the Justice System. Blackwell.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Goffman, Erving
    1981Forms of Talk. University of Pennsylvania Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Grice, Herbert Paul
    1975 “Logic and Conversation.” InSyntax and Semantics, edited byPeter Cole, and Jerry L. Morgan. Academic Press: –.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Heffer, Chris
    2005The Language of Jury Trial: A Corpus-Aided Analysis of Legal-Lay Discourse. Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1057/9780230502888
    https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230502888 [Google Scholar]
  18. Heritage, John, and Marja-Leena Sorjonen
    1994 “Constituting and Maintaining Activities across Sequences: And-Prefacing as a Feature of Question Design.” Language in Society (): –. 10.1017/S0047404500017656
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500017656 [Google Scholar]
  19. Hutcheson, Graeme D., James S. Baxter, Karen Telfer, and David Warden
    1995 “Child Witness Statement Quality: Question Type and Errors of Omission.” Law and Human Behavior (): –. 10.1007/BF01499378
    https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01499378 [Google Scholar]
  20. Jimenez, Raquel R., and Rachelle Ballesteros-Lintao
    2020 “A Norm-Based Analysis of Court Interpretation in Selected Philippine Criminal Cases.” Asian Journal of English Language Studies (AJELS): –. 10.59960/8.a6
    https://doi.org/10.59960/8.a6 [Google Scholar]
  21. Khoyi, Amin Mohammadzadegan, and Biook Behnam
    2014 “Discourse of Law: Analysis of Cooperative Principles and Speech Acts in Iranian Law Courts.” Asian Journal of Education and e-Learning (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Lubis, Y. Basri Saktyus, T. Silvana Sinar, and Masdiana Lubis
    2023 “Question and Respond Types in Courtroom: A Forensic Linguistics Analysis.” LingPoet: Journal of Linguistics and Literary Research (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Madrunio, Marilu R.
    2013 “The Interrogator and the Interrogated: The Questioning Process in Philippine Courtroom Discourse.” Philippine Journal of Linguistics: –.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Madrunio, Marilu R., and Isabel Pefianco Martin
    2023Forensic Linguistics in the Philippines: Origins, Developments, and Directions. Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781009106078
    https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009106078 [Google Scholar]
  25. Martin, Isabel P.
    2012 “Expanding the Role of Philippine Languages in the Legal System: The Dim Prospects.” Asian Perspectives in the Arts and Humanities (): –. 10.13185/AP2012.02102
    https://doi.org/10.13185/AP2012.02102 [Google Scholar]
  26. Matsumoto, Kazuko
    1999 “And-Prefaced Questions in Institutional Discourse.” Linguistics (): –. 10.1515/ling.37.2.251
    https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.37.2.251 [Google Scholar]
  27. Milne, Rebecca, Isabel C. H. Clare, and Ray Bull
    1999 “Using the Cognitive Interview with Adults with Mild Learning Disabilities.” Psychology, Crime and Law (): –. 10.1080/10683169908414995
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10683169908414995 [Google Scholar]
  28. Oxburgh, Gavin E., Trond Myklebust, and Tim Grant
    2010 “The Question of Question Types in Police Interviews: A Review of the Literature from a Psychological and Linguistic Perspective.” International Journal of Speech, Language & the Law (): –. 10.1558/ijsll.v17i1.45
    https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.v17i1.45 [Google Scholar]
  29. Powell, Richard
    2018 “Language Planning and Legal Systems.” Handbook of Communication in the Legal Sphere, edited byJacqueline Visconti, –. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9781614514664‑007
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614514664-007 [Google Scholar]
  30. Prasetyo, Dito, Ahmad Bukhori Muslim, and Ernie D. A. Imperiani
    2018 “I Have Never Touched It: Flouting and Violation of Maxims in a Court Testimony.” Passage (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Ravago, Joan C., John Arvin V. De Roxas, Joel M. Torres, Daisy O. Casipit, and Mercedita M. Reyes
    2024 “Cross-Cultural Gender-Based Investigation of Filipino and Chinese Facebook Users’ Disagreement Strategies.” Qubahan Academic Journal (): –. 10.48161/qaj.v4n2a538
    https://doi.org/10.48161/qaj.v4n2a538 [Google Scholar]
  32. Rigney, Azucena C.
    1999 “Questioning in Interpreted Testimony.” Forensic Linguistics (): –. 10.1558/sll.1999.6.1.83
    https://doi.org/10.1558/sll.1999.6.1.83 [Google Scholar]
  33. Rushing, Don G., and Christopher Hendricks
    2020 “Direct and Cross Examination: The Art of Asking Questions.” Daily Journal Corporation, November25. https://www.dailyjournal.com/mcle/811-direct-and-cross-examination-the-art-of-asking-questions
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Seuren, Lucas M.
    2019 “Questioning in Court: The Construction of Direct Examinations.” Discourse Studies (): –. 10.1177/1461445618770483
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445618770483 [Google Scholar]
  35. Seyari, Abdoreza, and Mohamad Sadegh Bagheri
    2020 “Towards Teaching Forensic Linguistics: An Iranian Perspective.” Journal of Studies in Learning and Teaching English (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Siregar, Ade Fitriani, Sumarsih, and Sri Minda Murni
    2021 “Conversational Maxims of Operation Targets in Police Investigative Interviews.” In6th Annual International Seminar on Transformative Education and Educational Leadership (AISTEEL 2021) Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, –. Atlantis Press. 10.2991/assehr.k.211110.077
    https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211110.077 [Google Scholar]
  37. Smith, Kevin
    2024 “Twenty-Five Years of Achieving Best Evidence: Investigative Interviews with Victims and Witnesses in England and Wales.” International Journal of Police Science & Management (): –. 10.1177/14613557241298802
    https://doi.org/10.1177/14613557241298802 [Google Scholar]
  38. Snook, Brent, Kirk Luther, Heather Quinlan, and Rebecca Milne
    2012 “Let’em Talk! A Field Study of Police Questioning Practices of Suspects and Accused Persons.” Criminal Justice and Behavior (): –. 10.1177/0093854812449216
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854812449216 [Google Scholar]
  39. Tajabadi, Azar, Hamidreza Dowlatabadi, and Ehsan Mehri
    2014 “Grice’s Cooperative Maxims in Oral Arguments: The Case of Dispute Settlement Councils in Iran.” Procedia — Social and Behavioral Sciences: –. 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.616
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.616 [Google Scholar]
  40. Udina, Natalia
    2017 “Forensic Linguistics Implications for Legal Education: Creating the E-Textbook on Language and Law.” Procedia — Social and Behavioral Sciences: –. 10.1016/j.sbspro.2017.02.219
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2017.02.219 [Google Scholar]
  41. Villanueva, Virna, and Marilu R. Madrunio
    2016 “Examining the Language in the Courtroom Interrogation of Vulnerable and Non-Vulnerable Witnesses.” Philippine Journal of Linguistics: –.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Zajac, Rachel, and Paula Cannan
    2009 “Cross-Examination of Sexual Assault Complainants: A Developmental Comparison.” Psychiatry, Psychology and Law: –. 10.1080/13218710802620448
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13218710802620448 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/prag.25061.fra
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/prag.25061.fra
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error