Multimodal discourse analysis offers a novel lens for the study of legal discourse. Within the closing arguments of a trial, prosecution and defense attorneys utilize various multimodal resources to present evidence, articulate opinions, and adopt stances to achieve their communicative goals. This research focuses on the closing arguments in the criminal trial concerning the death of George Floyd to analyze the multimodal representation of the closing arguments delivered by both prosecution and defense attorneys. It employs the analytical framework of the attitude system and paralinguistic typology proposed by Martin and colleagues, and uses the UAM Corpus Tool and Praat to qualitatively annotate and quantify the linguistic and paralinguistic information. The findings reveal that these attorneys employ different multimodal resources, including language and paralanguage, to convey their attitudes towards the case’s participants. This leads to the construction of competing narratives, shedding light on how justice is seen to be done.

中文翻译：

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必须让正义得到伸张：对律师结案陈词的多模态态度分析

多模态话语分析为法律话语研究提供了一个新的视角。在审判的结案陈词中，控方和辩护律师利用各种多模式资源来提供证据、阐明观点并采取立场来实现其沟通目标。本研究重点关注乔治·弗洛伊德之死刑事审判中的结案陈词，分析检方和辩护律师提出的结案陈词的多模态表征。它采用Martin及其同事提出的态度系统和副语言类型学的分析框架，并使用UAM语料库工具和Praat对语言和副语言信息进行定性注释和量化。研究结果表明，这些律师使用不同的多模式资源，包括语言和副语言，来表达他们对案件参与者的态度。这导致了相互竞争的叙事的构建，揭示了正义如何得到伸张。