This research-led module specifically examines the nature of persuasion in the legal process but in the much broader context of debate about persuasion-related issues of central importance across the humanities and social sciences: narrative, voice, conflict, identity, evidence, expertise, regulation and ideology. Persuasion permeates all phases of the legal process from police interrogation to judicial argument, from lay testimony in small claims courts to legal advice about the torture of terrorist suspects. But what makes persuasion in the legal process particularly interesting is that the law as an institution tends to deny that the process has anything to do with persuasion. The legal process is thus a test-bed for the line between persuasion and deception that invokes the timely and timeless issues of truth, trust and technology. The module will consider the rhetorical origins of ‘forensic discourse’ and will examine some key elements of persuasion – narrative, argument and evidence – as they play out in the highly regulated but conflict-ridden forensic context. The aim of the module is to generate critical reflection about the intersection of persuasive forensic discourse with such key social issues as power, ideology, identity, voice and expertise. The module complements such modules as Forensic Linguistics but it does not assume any knowledge of either persuasion or the legal process.

• Demonstrate a good critical knowledge of key issues in persuasion and the legal process
• Understand key critical concepts such as power, ideology, identity, voice and expertise
• Understand the relationship between language and the way we think and act
• Read and understand theoretical texts relating to persuasion and the legal process
• Write a carefully argued academic essay both as coursework and under the pressure of exam conditions

Timetabled sessions include 2 lectures (a double lecture) and 1 seminar per week.

Lectures will be as interactive as possible and are designed to stimulate interest and develop critical response rather than provide the bulk of the informational input, which will come through reading. Lectures are usually supplemented with PowerPoint slides and handouts summarising content at a reasonable level of detail. These are usually made available on Learning Central at least 24 hours before the session. Audio and video are used in this module. Transcripts are provided where the audio or visual texts are analysed in detail or are a core element of the lecture/seminar.  

The seminars require full participation in the form of pair work, group work and class discussion and debate. You may be required to give an informal presentation and/or lead discussion.

The module focuses in particular on skills of argumentation, which are central both to academic success and to many employment contexts. It also draws on a number of different disciplines, thus broadening your academic horizons and developing the type of flexibility needed in a modern working environment. The work we do here has clear links with Discourse, Language and Culture, Language and Mind, and History of English at Year 2 and with Forensic Linguistics and Persuasive Communication at Year 3. It is also relevant to both the ‘Legal’ and ‘Media’ employability pathways.

The module takes a primarily qualitative and critical approach to persuasion as the art of rhetoric, though insights and findings from the science of persuasive communication can enrich our understanding of persuasion as rhetoric.

The module is assessed by coursework and exam.

The coursework provides an opportunity to explore a topic in more depth. The essay titles are provided in the Module Outline at the beginning of your module. Your essay should demonstrate a good critical understanding of key issues, concepts and theories covered in the first half of the module and should develop a clear and convincing argument presented according to the academic conventions outlined in the English Language and Communication Course Guide.

The exam is in two parts. Part I will ask you to explain two key concepts in persuasion in no more than 150 words each. The concepts are taken from both halves of the module. The aim is to help you develop a rigorous but concise approach to explaining concepts. Part II will ask you to write an argumentative essay on one of the topics covered in the second half of the module. You will need to show that you have thought carefully about the topic and are able to discuss it intelligently under exam conditions. You will need to prepare at least two topics.

The module is assessed according to the Assessment Criteria set out in the English Language and Communication Course Guide. Otherwise, there are no academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities.

The module is divided into two parts. ‘The Legal Process as Rhetoric’ argues that the contemporary legal process is more about persuading people (rhetoric) than discovering the truth (revelation). It begins (with a short trip back to ancient Athenian courts) by showing that the legal process is always rooted in a rhetorical situation in which speakers try to convince a legal audience that a suspect or defendant did or did not commit a wrong. It then shows how that ‘default’ rhetorical process is disguised through institutional rules and regulations about communication in the pre-trial legal process.  The following weeks then tease out how discursive elements arising from the rhetorical situation in court (narrative, conflict and evidence) are interwoven with the critical forces of voice, identity and expertise to give particular shape to communication at trial. The topics will broadly be:

• Rhetoric and persuasion in the legal process
• Persuasion and power in the pre-trial context
• Narrative and voice in court
• Conflict and identity in cross-examination
• Evidence and expertise in expert testimony

The second part, ‘Rhetoric, Rules and Deception’, explores the tricky line between (honest) persuasion and (dishonest) deception and considers whether the claims of the law to be objective make deception more likely. Topics might include: legal opinions that define torture or sexual relations virtually out of existence; the difficult line between persuading the jury to follow the law and influencing their decision-making; the use of lying as a persuasive tool; and rhetorical deceptions associated with lie detection technologies:   

• Torts and Torture: Legal regulation and ideology in legal opinion
• Prescription and Persuasion: Persuading the jury to follow the law
• Truth and Trust: Lying and the legal process
• Trust and Technology: Lie detection and rhetoric

Attention is paid throughout the module to the relevance of the issues under discussion to our understanding of language, law and life more generally.

There are four sources of reading for this module:

1) The Reader, available from Blackwells at the beginning of semester, provides the set of core readings for the module. These are articles or chapters from seminal books as well as drafts of unpublished work that is otherwise unavailable.

2) Textbooks and Introductions are good sources for increasing your general understanding of a topic. The module draws on three key disciplinary areas – Discourse, Persuasion (including both Rhetoric and Persuasive Communication), and Forensic Linguistics/Language and Law – and introductions to all three are useful.  

Blommaert, J. (2005) Discourse. Cambridge: CUP.

Conley, J.M. and W.M. O’Barr (2005) Just Words: Law, Language and Power. 2^nd edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Perloff, R.M. (2010) The Dynamics of Persuasion: Communication and Attitudes in the Twenty-First Century. 4^th edition.  London: Routledge.

Toye, R. (2013) Rhetoric: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: OUP.

3) Recommended Further Reading consists in short reading lists that will be provided at the end of each lecture. They are a good start for research on the essays and to follow up on topics that have interested you.

4) Your Own Research (books, journal articles and other material not mentioned in the above sources) is probably necessary if you want to do well in your essay.

Note that you will be expected to read books and journal articles both in printed copy and online. You should contact the module leader as early as possible if you will require readings in an alternative format.