Polish vs. American Courtroom Discourse

Polish vs. American Courtroom Discourse investigates different methods of witness examination in criminal trials under two disparate legal systems: Civil Law and Common Law. Its major objective is to identify, illustrate and explain the cross-cultural similarities and disparities between the inquisitorial and adversarial procedures of witness examination in criminal trials. The book argues that these are two culturally distinct ways of seeking the truth and pursuing justice. The author investigates verbal interaction during penal cases and examines by what means and to what effect social (institutional), historical and cultural context shapes the use of language in court. Polish vs. American Courtroom Discourse seeks to present the language used in courtroom interaction by the representatives of the legal professions, including the judge, attorney for prosecution and defense as a distinctive example of linguistic genre, a unique phenomenon which is culturally varied and socially conditioned. This book makes a significant contribution both to the fields of discourse analysis and socio-legal studies and will be of great interest to those researching language and the law, as well as language and linguistics more generally.