iReasearch学术科研网

Attitude is an important resource for courtroom discourse to perform interpersonal functions. After having analyzed the attitude expressions in the eight trials which are audio recorded  and transcribed, this study has found that judgment and appreciation are the first two most important ways for subjects in the courtroom to express attitude, but affect is least frequently used. In the four criminal trials, the defendants express attitude most frequently and negatively; in the four non⁃criminal trials, the plaintiffs express attitude most frequently and negatively. In the debate section of criminal trials, judgments of legality and capacity and non-judgment invoking appreciations are employed by the prosecutors and defense attorneys to express attitude and debate each other. Non⁃judgment invoking appreciations are used not only to evaluate the evidence, but also to introduce substantial statements, serving as a link between the former and the latter.