Performatives Used In Kenyan Courtroom Discourse

Abstract

This study investigated performatives used in Kenyan Courtroom Discourse. It identified the performatives used in the courtroom proceedings.Performatives are verbs used in courtroom discourse for purposes of disputing,directing,requesting,declaring,confessing,expressing,promising or denying allegations among other functions. In this paper, performatives used in Kenyan courtroom interaction are identified using excerpts of examination and cross-examination sequences derived from civil and criminal cases. The paper was based on the assumption that conversation in courtroom uses performatives which are prevalent and specific to court as an institution. The objective was: To identify   performatives used in the courtroom proceedings. The research question was: What are the prevalent performatives used in courtroom conversation? The study used Speech Act Theory proposed by Austin (1962) and refined then advanced as a theory of discourse by Searl in 1969 and Critical Discourse Analysis Theory by Fairclough (1992).It used 32 court cases collected through tape-recording and non-participant observation. The tape-recorded data were transcribed using Jefferson transcription notation stated in Levinson (1983:369-370). Critical Discourse Analysis by Fairclough (1972) and Conversational Analysis by Hymes (1972) were used in the analysis. The illocutionary structures in the speakers’ utterances against the perlocutionary structures in the respondents’ utterances were analyzed to establish the differences. Findings of the study indicate that performatives such as declaratives, directives, requests, denials, confessions disputations, and expressive are prevalent during courtroom conversation. They entail speaker’s intention on the listener. These were observed in question-answer exchanges, which are interpreted as indirect speech acts (Kryk-Kastovsky 2009:440).The indirect address presents the interactional rules of engagement in courtroom discourse. This prohibits the usual, natural and dynamic reply to questions as conducted in casual and non-institutional conversation. Due to this, the study concluded that speech in courtroom use performatives which are prevalent and specific to courtroom discourse. Finally, the study recommends First, that Kenyan citizens should form a habit of visiting the law courts so as to familiarize with the performatives used in courtroom conversation. Secondly, that forensic linguistics be introduced in education syllabus to equip the public and the young citizens with the necessary knowledge for courtroom interaction.

Key words: Performatives, Forensic Linguistics, Courtroom, Prevalent, Perlocutionary, illocutionary, Critical Discourse Analysis, Cooperative Principle, Conversational Analysis.