School of English
Module manager: Alison May
Email: a.j.may1@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
Ideally, study of English language at University or A level.
| ENGL2037 | Forensic Approaches to Language |
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module introduces students to a relatively new and emerging field of language study: forensic linguistics. This is an applied and multidisciplinary field focusing on language use in legal settings, such as courtrooms, police interview rooms, and legal documents, and the use of linguistics in expert opinions in real cases. Talk and writing are key modes of communication and record in this specialised institutional setting; thus, the study of language in these contexts involves the examination of a variety of professional linguistic practices. The interaction between language and the law has received growing scholarly and recent public interestto and are constrained by language, and looks at the ways that scholars of language have approached the legal analysis of texts and talk as investigators, critics, experts and observers. You will be introduced to relevant quantitative, qualitative and computational methods and tools to deploy as appropriate in your work according to the topic you choose to write on. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
By the end of the module students will be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of a range of aspects of institutional language use in a selected area of the legal process and understand the role of language as an investigative tool in the study of written and spoken language in legal contexts.
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Analyse the language of a particular type of text or talk within forensic linguistics
2. Demonstrate knowledge of an extensive range of appropriate reading in a chosen field.
3. Selected a range of appropriate methods of analysis, including qualitative, quantitative and computational.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate sophisticated communication skills in writing and visualisation through graphs, formatting of extracts, and figures, where appropriate
2. Show sophisticated research skills, including information retrieval, organisation of material, the evaluation of its importance, identifying appropriate resources, and using critical thinking.
3. Demonstrated powerful use of relevant IT skills for writing and those specifically appropriate to forensic linguistics.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supervision | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Lecture | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| Practical | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Seminar | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Private study hours | 181.8 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 18.2 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Students will give a work-in-progress presentation to get formative feedback on their written assignment work. This will be in the form of peer and tutor feedback. In addition, each student will have a 10-minute supervision to discuss plans and feedback for assessed work.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Essay | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 16/07/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team