The case for Condren: Aboriginal English, pragmatics and the law

Abstract

Aboriginal English is the label which is generally used to refer to a continuum of dialectal varieties which differ from Standard Australian English in structural features, especially features of phonology, morphology and syntax. Recent studies show that, even where speakers use an acrolectal variety of Aboriginal English, there are subtle but significant pragmatic features which distinguish their language from Standard English. This is particularly true of the ways in which questions are asked and answered. This paper reports on a sociolinguistic analysis of a police interview with Kelvin Condren, a speaker of Aboriginal English. The interview is a ‘confession’ of murder for which Condren received a life sentence. But he alleges that he is innocent and that the ‘confession’ is not in his words. The sociolinguistic study of the ‘confession’ reveals startling discrepancies of language use, which are not consistent either with Aboriginal English ways of asking and answering questions, or with other interviews with Condren. This case study highlights the importance of including pragmatic features in defining varieties of language.