Understanding Aborigines in Australian Courts of Law

Liberman, Kenneth

doi:10.17730/humo.40.3.7823t2m267261132

Cited by 30 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Problems of intercultural communication aff ecting speakers of Indigenous languages in their interaction with the criminal justice system have long been discussed in the literature (Strehlow 1936, Kriewaldt 1960-1962, Nash 1979, Liberman 1981, Walsh 1994, Cooke 1995. One of the issues has concerned the kind of English known or produced by Indigenous people caught up in legal processes.…”

Section: Language and Lawmentioning

confidence: 99%

1. The languages of Australia in linguistic research: context and issues

Koch¹,

Nordlinger²

2014

The Languages and Linguistics of Australia

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The languages of Australia in linguistic research: context and issues 1 Background on the Indigenous languages of Australia At the time of colonisation in the late 18 th century, Australia was home to 700-800 language varieties, distributed across the continent (and including Tasmania and the Torres Strait Islands), which can be grouped into more than 250 distinct languages, some of which include a number of dialects.¹ , ² These language varieties were spoken across a population of around one million people (e.g. Butlin 1983), which indicates the enormous linguistic diversity of Indigenous Australia. In many cases small populations (e.g. 40-50 people) maintained distinctive language varieties, and the largest populations speaking a single language variety were probably no bigger than 3000-4000 people. Linguistic diversity was not necessarily an impediment to communication, however, since Indigenous societies were frequently highly multilingual, with an individual oft en speaking up to 4-6 languages of the surrounding area. Linguistic diversity, in fact, was valued for its indexical relationship to identity and group membership (Evans 2007). The relationship between language and identity is strong for all human societies, but is particularly so in Indigenous Australia, where language is oft en related directly to the land. As Rumsey (1993, 2005) explains, in Australia there is a direct relationship between a language and a tract of land; in creation myths it is very common for the ancestors to be described as passing across the land instilling diff erent languages into diff erent areas as they go (Evans 2007: 20). People are then connected to a particular tract of land and, through that connection, to the language associated with that place. Thus the Wambaya people are Wambaya because they are linked to places which are associated with the Wambaya language, and therefore speak Wambaya (see Rumsey 1993, 2005 for discussion). This ideology leads to an important distinction between speaking a language and "owning" a language. A person will "own" the language of the land to which her clan, family or group is connected, even if she doesn't speak it. 1 We wish to extend our thanks to Jane Simpson for reading an earlier version of this chapter and providing many suggestions and comments that have led to substantial improvements in coverage and content. 2 The number of languages cited in the literature generally ranges from 250-300. Recent work by Claire Bowern (NSF grant 0844550) suggests that the figure might be closer to 350 (270 Pama-Nyungan, and 80-90 non-Pama-Nyungan (Claire Bowern pers. comm. 28/11/13)).

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Section: Language and Lawmentioning

confidence: 99%

1. The languages of Australia in linguistic research: context and issues

Koch¹,

Nordlinger²

2014

The Languages and Linguistics of Australia

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“…c) cultural taboos may prevent the mentioning of a deceased person's name or sacred sites, and this may not be recognised. d) 'gratuitous concurrence' may occur in the answering of questions when there is an imbalance of power (Liberman 1981:248-9, Eades 1994 e) a speaker may talk about time or distance in different ways, relating them to a social event or situation rather than a quantifiable specification (Eades 1995:159, Cooke 1995.…”

Section: Specific Linguistic Features Identified As Problematic In Thmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accommodating Language Difference: A Collaborative Approach to Justice in the Koori Court of Victoria

Stroud

2014

SSRN Journal

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“…The two most relevant features are silence, and gratuitous concurrence. It appears that these pragmatic features of use are also relevant to communication with Aboriginal speakers of English as an additional language as well as speakers of traditional languages (see Cooke 2002Cooke , 2009Liberman 1981Liberman , 1985Mildren 1999;Walsh 1994).…”

Section: Pragmaticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communication with Aboriginal Speakers of English in the Legal Process

Eades¹

2012

Australian Journal of Linguistics

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This paper provides an overview of sociolinguistic issues concerning communication in the legal process between non-Aboriginal people using General Australian English and Aboriginal people using other varieties of English. It draws on three types of evidence: published research, specific cases, and communication with Aboriginal people, lawyers, judges and magistrates. Specific cases exemplify distinctive Aboriginal features of English in grammar, accent, vocabulary, pragmatics, discourse structure and cultural presuppositions. The paper also considers some of the ways in which legal professionals are engaging with intercultural communication issues raised by sociolinguists. Despite some promising recent developments, a recent case highlights implications for other legal decision-makers, namely jurors.

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Understanding Aborigines in Australian Courts of Law

Cited by 30 publications

References 3 publications

1. The languages of Australia in linguistic research: context and issues

1. The languages of Australia in linguistic research: context and issues

Accommodating Language Difference: A Collaborative Approach to Justice in the Koori Court of Victoria

Communication with Aboriginal Speakers of English in the Legal Process

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