With an emphasis on the linguistic experiences of sexual-assault witnesses in the British legal system (adult rape victims and child abuse victims), this paper is a
consideration of how the lexical choices in the questions posed to a witness encourage a particular perception of her testimony. The concepts to be discussed include conceptual
frames and smuggling information, and we offer a qualitative consideration of how the semantic features of a lawyer’s lexical choices can support a representation of either
the witness or her experiences that is not in her interests. The appropriateness of a lawyer’s chosen frame is of key importance to ‘smuggling information’, a term used
when a lawyer’s question inserts (negative) information into a witness’s testimony through suggestion. We look at how such linguistic manipulations can weaken a
witness’s account by suggesting that she is to blame, and/or is lying or perhaps has simply misunderstood the situation. Our analysis offers an explanation as to why vulnerable witnesses may not be believed in court.
The paper develops the concept of language awareness (LA) by considering the material-social-discursive nexus of the communicative situation that affords professional practice. It also presents a mixed-methods study that provides a deeper and multi-layered understanding of LA in action and sets out a methodological framework for similar research in healthcare communication. Our study addresses: (i) the need for LA (re)conceptualization in research on healthcare contexts, (ii) the ways in which a mixed-methods approach provides a deeper understanding of both implicit and explicit LA and (iii) the opportunities raised for reflection on practice through researcherpractitioner contact. Drawing on our linguistic ethnography of nurse shift-change handover meetings in a hospital unit, we draw on and expand van Lier's (1998) model by demonstrating the shortcomings of limiting LA to awareness of language as system rather than as activity embedded in particular socio-discursive situations. Regarding nursing handovers, we argue that handover practice and ongoing patient safety not only require the implementation of communication protocols, but also depend on nurses' reflective practice as the different types of interactions address crucially different levels of awareness. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and methodological contribution of our study to the fields of LA and healthcare communication.
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