ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how forensic analysis is performed in a selection of cases and asks some more specific questions: What analytical tools are available? How are those tools used? What are the main challenges associated with forensic linguistic approaches, for instance as regards the reliability of evidence presented? Forensic discourse analysis typically examines conversational features in order to ascertain what is going on not only at the surface level of discourse, but also at the level of intention and motivation. A trained and experienced linguist, R. Shuy maintains, has the ability to describe language and linguistic processes precisely. Methods used in forensic linguistic analysis may be quantitative or qualitative. Detecting paraphrased or translated plagiarised texts is more challenging. But recently, forensic linguists have started to develop relevant techniques for this. Linguists have also adopted methods of data collection traditionally used in other social science disciplines that can also be useful in legal investigations and proceedings.
