The pragmatic function of speech acts as performed by lawyers and witnesses in anglo-american courtroom direct examination and cross examination and their relation to the objectives pursued by lawyers

Abstract

The research presented here aimed at investigating into the lawyer-witness interaction in examination and cross-examination in courtroom, in terms of the speech acts that they perform in such a context which, as described above, can be unaffable for the witness. The antagonistic nature of courtroom examination, particularly of cross-examination, makes it interesting to determine the types of speech acts which are conveyed in the lawyer-witness interaction, beyond the evident fact that lawyers ask questions that the witness must answer.