Abstract
This study examined the discourse control strategies in the use of English in police-suspect interrogation in Nigeria with a view to identifying the themes in the interrogation discourse and discussing the pragmatic functions of the dominant discourse control strategies employed by the police interrogators. The data gathered were transcribed and analysed, using Thomas' metapragmatic model. The result indicated that assault, affray, house breaking, obtaining by false pretence (419), abduction, and robbery were the common themes in the discourse. Analysis revealed further that the investigating police officers (IPOs) employed illocutionary force indicating devices for intimidation and coercion of suspects while they used discoursal indicators, meta-discoursal comments, and upshots and reformulations as discourse control strategies. The study concluded that police-suspect interrogation is largely slanted in favour of the police interrogators and that police interrogation is a peculiar discourse genre where there is interplay of power asymmetry and dominance.
Highlights
As part of the expanding field of forensic discourse, there has been, in recent times, an increasing focus on the process of the police interrogation, especially use of language by police interrogators
This study examined the discourse control strategies in the use of English in police-suspect interrogation in Nigeria with a view to identifying the themes in the interrogation discourse and discussing the pragmatic functions of the dominant discourse control strategies employed by the police interrogators
Instances of utterances with Illocutionary force indicating devices (IFIDs) in police interrogation analysed in this study further reveal that the investigating police officers (IPOs) who is the dominant speaker, holds higher power and authority than the suspect
Summary
As part of the expanding field of forensic discourse, there has been, in recent times, an increasing focus on the process of the police interrogation, especially use of language by police interrogators. In addition to comprehensibility problem, Shuy (1997) points to language of coercion as a major problem in police interrogation of suspects. He states that this could come in form of verbal dominance or control. 140) claims that this approach (recycle) has been referred to, in the language of professional criminal investigators, as “constant repetition of one theme” which consists of “repeating the same questions or line of questioning over and over again” Another linguistic problem in police interrogation originates from the fact that police officers are allowed to paraphrase the message contained in the caution or Miranda. Vol 5, No 1; 2015 warnings, is that there is great variability in the way that different police officers paraphrase the caution, and that in the process of paraphrasing, the police often make the caution/Miranda warnings less comprehensible than they originally are
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