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In:New Englishes, New Methods:
Edited by Guyanne Wilson and Michael Westphal
[Varieties of English Around the World G68] 2023
► pp. 84–106

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Creole and power

A Critical Discourse Analysis of legal cross‑examinations in ICE Jamaica and ICE Trinidad and Tobago

ORCiD logo with link | Kiel University
ORCiD logo with link | University College London
Published online: 14 April 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g68.05wes
Abstract
The paper presents a Critical Discourse Analysis of Jamaican and Trinidadian legal-cross examinations, using data from the International Corpus of English. Although English is the dominant language of the courtroom, the analysis shows that Creole is used by both attorneys and witnesses. In contrast to previous associations of Creole with powerlessness and Standard English with power, attorneys make use of both varieties to exert their authority in the courtroom. Hence, the value of specific linguistic resources and who can use them for which purpose depends on the speakers’ social and institutional positionality. On a methodological level, the paper demonstrates that the International Corpus of English provides valuable data for critical qualitative analyses of language variation in New Englishes.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Language and law in Jamaica and Trinidad
  • 3.Critical discourse analysis
  • 4.Data and method
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Use of standard English
    • 5.2Use of Creole
    • 5.3Questions
    • 5.4Reformulation
  • 6.Conclusion: Creole and power
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
References (45)
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Cited by (2)

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Jackson, Samantha, Philipp Meer & Mirjam Schmalz
2025. Trinidad and Tobago, English and Creoles in. In The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of World Englishes, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Dan, Bernard
2024. Disability creole: Can we speak a common biopsychosocial language?. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 66:9 ► pp. 1112 ff. DOI logo

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