Forensic Linguistics and Language Issues in Multilingual-Oriented Legal Discourse

The study aims to examine one of the multilingual-related issues from a legal perspective; forensic linguistics from the perspective of bi/multilingualism, and at the same time, following its trends in monolingual research contexts. The study agrees with Aneta Pavlenko’s (2017) current contestation and conceptualisation of communicative problems in a multilingual legal context following the crisis of monolingual policy in multilingual African frameworks. The study aims to contribute to sealing up the lacunae in multilingual-oriented forensic linguistic research. In achieving these aims, the theoretical concepts and approaches of linguistics are fused with methodological approaches to establish/understand the efficacy and validation of forensic linguistics in a multilingual society. It will contribute to global perspectives in forensic linguistics by assessing the trends of forensic linguistics, future projections, the eclectic nature of forensic linguistics, and the scope of legal apertures it addresses in a multilingual culture, as well as translation. A case study of selected research participants drawn from lay victims, legal practitioners, and court employees in Nigeria is used for data collection. It is assumed that linguists can assist lay victims in fighting and achieving social justice forestalled by linguistic limitations and misrepresentations, and equally assist the court in crime detection.