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1、LanguagetnlegalcontextsThe'why'questionJohnGibbonsLinguisticsDepartment,SydneyUniversityThepapersinthissectionwerepresentedattheSymposiumonLanguageinLegalContextsduringtheFifthInternationalConferenceonLanguageandSocialPsychology,attheUniversityofQueensland,Brisbane,AustraliainJuly
2、1994.Itmaybeusefultoindicatebrieflythemannerinwhichthisparticularconferencehelpedtoshapethenatureofthesepapers,andtheparticularunderlyingissuethattheyall,inverydifferentways,address.Manyyearsago,Fishman(1965)askedthefundamentalquestionthatstillunderpinsmuchworkinmacro-sociolinguis
3、ticsandinstyleandregisteranalysis:'whospeakswhatlanguagetowhom,andwhen?'Butthisleavesunasked,andthereforeunanswered,thecriticalquestion'why?'Thereasonsandmotivesforlanguagebehaviour,andthefactorswhichcauselanguageinlegalcontextstodifferfromeverydayconversationallanguage,canlargely
4、befoundinattitudes,beliefs,ideologies,andincultureingeneral.Thepaperscollectedherelookatlanguageinawiderangeoflegalcontexts,butallofthemexaminetheworldviewandpatternsofthoughtthatliebehindthelanguage.Althoughtheyshareacommonunderlyingconcern,thepapersaddressarangeofdifferentareaso
5、ftherelationshipbetweenlanguageandthelaw.Onemajorthemeinlegallanguagestudiesisthelanguageoflegalprocesses,bothinsideandoutsidethecourtroom-onewouldwishtomentionpartic•ularlytheworkofO'Barr(1982)andhiscolleaguesatDukeUniversity,whohaveconcludedthatonereasonwhysomuchlegaldiscoursedi
6、ffersmarkedlyfromeverydaycasualinteractionisthatpowerisveryunequallydistributedinlegalcontexts,particularlyincontactbetweenlawyersandlayfolk.Othershowever,forexampleO'Toole(1994)maintainthatthesecharacteristicsoflegaldiscoursespringfromdifferentunderstandingsofthe©Routledge1995135
7、0-1771ForensicLinguistics2(I}1995:39-4140ForensicLinguisticsissuesandofthecontext.Thelawyer'sunderstandingisdifferentasaconse•quenceoflegaleducationandcourtroomexperience.Inotherwords,thepeculiaritiesoflegalinteractionarisefromknowledgeasymmetriesratherthan,orperhapsaswellas,power
8、asymmetries-forfurtherdiscussiono
