: : 12 December 2008
Forensic Text Analysis

This one-day course will examine the techniques and findings of forensic text analysis and through worked examples introduce participants to the potential and the limitations of the approaches used.

In examining an evidential text a forensic linguist tests legal claims made of that text. Forensic authorship analysis becomes necessary when the courts need to determine who wrote documents such as terrorist plans, ransom demands, libellous statements, malicious e-mails or contested text messages. Such cases may involve comparison with texts of known authorship or the examination of a single text to produce a sociolinguistic profile of the writer.

Other than authorship, other questions can be asked about the origin of a text. These include: How was it produced? Is it, for example, a true record of a conversation? Was it edited or produced at a single sitting? Was it written by a single author? Were there many authors? Was it copied from a different document? Was it plagiarised? All these questions can be of forensic interest in specific cases and can be addressed through linguistic analysis.

This one-day course introduces students to the linguistic theories which support forensic authorship analysis and also give them experience of working through practical problems. The course will also address issues of the admissibility of forensic linguistic evidence and of evaluating the evidential value of an expert witness report.

BOOKING

The course fee is GBP95 (with a student concessionary rate of GBP50). Places are limited and so early booking is advised. To book or for further information please email Margarita Seresht.