Introduction Summary of the article/Dissertation Critical Review on the Research Organization, arguments and evidences in each part: Abstract and Introduction Literature review Methodology Results Grammar and mechanics Conclusion

1. University of Gondar
College of Social Sciences and Humanities
Department of English Language and Literature
Postgraduate Program (PhD in Applied Linguistics)
Course Title: Philosophy of Language and Linguistics (APLI-711)
Article (PhD Dissertation) Review on:
Forensic Linguistic in Analysis of Suspects' and Witnesses' Expression
in Selected Criminal Cases: The Case of Federal Courts in Addis Ababa
By
Destaw Wagnew
February, 2023

2.  Introduction
 Summary of the article/Dissertation
 Critical Review on the Research
 Organization, arguments and evidences in each part:
Abstract and Introduction
Literature review
Methodology
Results
Grammar and mechanics
 Conclusion

3. Once a research has been done may need further
review to:
 evaluate existing methodological approaches and
unique insights.
 Identify inconsistencies in prior results and
potential explanations ;show critical limitations
 learn more from its strengths and limitations.

4.  Topic: "Forensic Linguistic in Analysis of
Suspects’ and Witnesses’ Expressions in Selected
Criminal Cases" is a PhD dissertation conducted
in the Federal Courts in Addis Ababa by Zinawork
Assefa, condcucted in 2021
 Focus of investigation: bribery, sexual misconduct
and murder cases

5.  The study has attempted to forward appropriate flow of
ideas in the introduction about:
 the concept of crime, its causes, mitigation strategies
how crime investigation evolved over time in different
reigns from the perspective of various multi
disciplinary subjects in the background part.
 B/c of man's civilization:
The nature and number of violations of rules complicated
This resulted in the diversification of approaches to
crime investigation.
multidisciplinary approach to crime investigations, and
Forensic Linguistics is one

6.  The study has indicated, there is no previous work on
issue of forensic linguistics in the Ethiopian context
except very few related works.
 It raised issues of:
 exploring patterns of linguistic features employed in
language of bribery, murder and sexual misconduct
cases.
 examining the role of direct and cross- examination
questions in court room investigations and the linguistic
tools and procedures used to detect language threats in
courtrooms.

7. Data:
 Primary data gathered from recordings and
observation tools backed up with documents and
literatures.
Participants
 purposefully selected suspects and witnesses of
bribery, murder and sexual misconduct cases.
Design:
 exploratory design to describe events under the
court-room investigations and
 explanatory design to look for the causes and
effects of ambiguity, falsified or inaccurate
statements of suspects and witnesses.
 Qualitative approach is used to organize and
analyze the oral and text data.

8. Findings are presented thematically in four
chapters:
 linguistic features of suspects in bribery case,
murder case, sexual misconduct case and
linguistic features in Eyewitnesses.
 The result explains the speech event, schema and
linguistic cues in courtroom interaction in each
case.
 It has presented issues of linguistic features in
each cases from the communities' common
practice to the court room interaction.

9. The linguistic expressions in the cases are
transcribed phonetically.
Based on the analysis, the study has
identified linguistic cues of bribery, murder,
and sexual misconduct cases.
These include avoiding liabilities,
contradictions, use of the pronoun,

10. Cont’d
social introduction, change in reference, temporal
lacuna, passive voice, false supportive evidence,
and fabricated time or date.
Besides, direct examination question was
employed to give the witness a humble answer, and
the cross-examination was an attempt to dismiss or
substantiate the witness's claim by using different
prompting methods.

11. Con’d
 Finally, the study has recommended that legal and
judicial bodies should be trained in forensic
linguistic analysis to assist in the investigation and
decision-making on crime and civil cases b/c the
cases require skills of many professions.
 Besides, list of references and appendices are
included in the ending parts of the study.

12. Evaluating the organization, arguments and evidences in
each part
 In the topic "Forensic Linguistic in Analysis of Suspects' and
Witnesses' Expression in Selected Criminal Cases: The Case
of Federal Courts in Addis Ababa”
 Some parts are not necessary:eg Forensic Linguistic in
 Relevance- the topic is important and related with
the issue indicated
 Novelty - shows quality of being new and
original . So, the issue raised seems new and
original.
 Feasibility ;It seems difficult to be researchable
considering available resources and research
environment

13. 1. Abstract and Introduction parts of the
study
Although the abstract part pinpointed the most
basic points in brief, it did not show the
conclusions and recommendations of the study.
A soundly prepared abstract should have a
statement of the problem under study, the
methods used, the findings and the conclusion
reached by the researcher and recommendations
(Gray, 2004).

14. Cont’d
 The background of the study tried to present
coherent ideas concerning the issues(crime causes,
alleviation strategies, perspective of multi
disciplinary subjects and philosophical assumptions,
investigation evolved over time)
However,
the introduction part lacks linking with theories of
crime;
for example it has not said anything how crime is
connected with Manipulation Theory, Mental Model
Theory or Speech Act Theory which usually have
basic points to do with discourses analysis and
criminal cases.
Not sufficiently stated how language works in crime
investigation

15. In the introduction there should be statement
of the problem, theoretical and practical
implication of the study, the link with theory
and relation with literature (APA Manual,
2007).
The introduction was not appropriately
organized b/c:
Some missing parts:Limitation &
definitions of operational key terms
The chapter and the headings are written in
different lines(it should have been like:
Chapter one: Introduction)

16. cont’d
 The paper is arranged in eight chapters which seem odd
in common dissertation structures
 The fourth chapter should have been written in sub parts
thematically to include the next three chapters.
 Basic research questions and the specific objectives of
the study repeated the same ideas;
 Either of them should be omitted.
 Some of the questions or objectives seem deviating from
the main focus or topic of the study.
 Eg. To examine the role of direct and cross- examination
questions in court room investigations.

17.  The main focus of study is on the discourse of the suspects
and the witnesses, not on the prosecutors'/attorneys'
questioning discourse.
OR:
The topic should have been written as "Forensic Linguistic
Analysis of expressions used in courtroom interaction in
Selected Criminal Cases.“
Gaps should be identified by informal observation or
experience, not from data collection
Eg. During data collection, the researcher remarked that
police officers and lawyers do not have advanced
linguistic knowledge because, in Ethiopia, police officers
and lawyers do not take supportive linguistics courses
(Zinawork, 2021:8) .

18. 2 Literature Review Parts
 Consulted sufficient literatures concerning the conceptual
and theoretical framework of forensic linguistics and related
issues;
 Reviewed related empirical studies done in different
contexts.
 main limitations:
 Most sources are not recent; they were written in the
nineteenth century.
The world is on track of change; now is 21st c.
 Mainly dependent on one source( Shuy )
"The researcher must demonstrate an understanding of the
existing literature pertinent to his or her study "Best and
Kahn (2003:57).

19. 3 Methodology Parts of the Study
 primary and secondary data from records,
observations, documents, literature and empirical
study reviewed.
 size of participants(suspects and witnesses) is not
mentioned; only cases mentioned
 Purposive sampling exposes to sample bias; distorts
the validity of the study.
 Research ethics
 the consent of the main participants (the suspects and
witnesses) was not considered.
 Eg. The study states”..the research gets the
recordings with the permission from the legal bodies
or staff”