I hold a Ph.D. in Linguistics (University of Arizona), and have taught in the Modern Languages Department (Purdue University 1983-85) and in the Hispanic Languages and Literatures Department (University of Pittsburgh 1985 to the present). I hold a secondary appointment in the Department of Linguistics and am one of the core members of the Hispanic Linguistics M.A./Ph.D. Program of the Linguistics Department.
Susan Berk-Seligson

My research and teaching areas of specialization are (1) sociolinguistics (especially variation, the ethnography of speaking, bilingualism, and language contact), (2) pragmatics (including discourse analysis), (3) language in institutional settings, particularly, language and the law, and (4) language and gender.

My publications include the book, The Bilingual Courtroom: Court Interpreters in the Judicial Process, 1990 and 2002, The University of Chicago Press. The book was awarded the prize for “Outstanding Book in the Field of Applied Linguistics” by the British Association of Applied Linguistics and was nominated for the Scribes Book Award by the American Bar Association. 

Articles that I have written on pragmatic aspects of legal language include: ABilingual Courtroom Proceedings: The Role of the Court Interpreter,@ 1990, in Judith N. Levi y Anne Graffam Walker (eds.) Language in the Judicial Process, Plenum Press; AThe Role of Register in the Bilingual Courtroom: Evaluative Reactions to Interpreted Testimony,@ 1989, the International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 79:79-91 (reprinted in Dalin D. Oaks, Linguistics at Work, 1998, Harcourt Brace College Publishers); AThe Role of Linguistic Pragmatics in Court Interpreting,@ 1988, La Raza Law Journal 2(1)14-48; AThe Impact of Politeness in Witness Testimony: The Influence of the Court Interpreter,@ 1988, Multilingua 7(4)411-439 (reprinted in Franz Poechhacker and Miriam Shlesinger (eds.), The Interpreting Studies Reader. Routledge: London/New York, pgs. 279-292); AThe Intersection of Testimony Styles in Interpreted Judicial Proceedings: Pragmatic Alterations in Spanish Testimony,@ 1987 Linguistics 25:1087-1125; AThe Impact of Court Interpreting on the Coerciveness of Leading Questions,@ Forensic Linguistics 6(1):30-56.

A new line of research within the field of language and the law that I have been exploring is the language of police interrogation, particularly as it relates to Spanish-speaking detainees. An outgrowth of this interest is a book manuscript in preparation, as well as publications on the subject (AInterpreting for the Police: Issues in Pre-trial Phases of the Judicial Process,@ Forensic Linguistics: The International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, 2000, 7(1):213-38; ALas advertencias Miranda y la coerción lingüística: cuando la policía alterna entre intérprete e interrogador,@ Revista Iberoamericana de Discurso y Sociedad 2001, 3(2):7-45; AThe Miranda Warnings and Linguistic Coercion: The Role of Footing in the Interrogation of a Limited-English Speaking Murder Suspect,@ in Janet Cotterill (ed.), Language in the Legal Process, London: Palgrave (formerly St. Martin=s Press/McMillans), 2002.

Related to my interest in both language in legal settings and language and gender is an article co-authored with Shonna L. Trinch, ANarrating in Protective Order Interviews: A Source of Interactional Trouble,@ Language in Society, 2002, 31(3):383-418.

As a result of my interest in the field of language and the law, I have served as Secretary of the International Association of Forensic Linguists, and am a member of the editorial board of Forensic Linguistics: The International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law.

In addition to publishing in the field of language and the law, I have written about Spanish in Latin America, particularly Costa Rican Spanish. Among my publications in this area are the following: AThe Phonological Correlates of Social Stratification in Costa Rican Spanish,@ 1978, Lingua, 46:1-28; ASubjective Reactions to Phonological Variation in Costa Rican Spanish,@1984, The Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 13(6)415-442; A Language and Political Behavior: A Methodology for Utilizing the Linguistic Component of Socio-economic Status,@ 1978, American Journal of Political Science, 22(3):712-741; ASources of Variation in Spanish Verb Construction Usage: The Active, the Dative, and the Reflexive Passive,@ 1983, The Journal of Pragmatics, 7(2):145-168.

Another research interest of mine is bilingualism. My articles in this field include ALinguistic Constraints on Intra-Sentential Code-Switching: A Study of Spanish/Hebrew Bilingualism,@ 1986, Language in Society 15:313-348, and "A Sociolinguistic View of the Mexican‑American Speech Community," 1980, Latin American Research Review, 15(2):65-110. 

My research interests both in language and the law as well as in Spanish in the U.S.A. have led me to apply my knowledge as a linguistic expert witness in cases involving the rights of linguistic minorities to speak a language other than English, particularly in the workplace. Thus, I have served as a linguistic expert in several class-action suits initiated either by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal organism that fights discrimination in the workplace, or by private law firms. In essence, these legal cases test the fairness of English-Only policies instituted by private companies. I have also served as an expert in cases involving the right to quality interpreting services in U.S. Immigration and Naturalization hearings. Finally, my knowledge of court interpreting issues has led to my appointment as a Research Affiliate of the National Center for State Courts (1998 to present) and an Advisory Committee member overseeing the Federal Court Interpreter=s Certification Exam (2001 to present), an exam administered by the National Center for State Courts.

In addition to these research and applied research activities, I have had the pleasure of working with a number of graduate students as their dissertation director. The following list provides an idea of the sorts of dissertations that my students have written (or are currently in the process of writing), and the tenure-track jobs that they have obtained upon leaving the Hispanic Linguistics graduate program of the Hispanic Languages and Literatures Department.

Susan Berk-Seligson

Jointly appointed in the Center for Latin American and Iberian Studies and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, I hold a Ph.D. in Linguistics (University of Arizona), and have taught in the Modern Languages Department (Purdue University 1983-85) and in the Hispanic Languages and Literatures Department (University of Pittsburgh 1985 to 2004), where I also held a secondary appointment in the Department of Linguistics and was one of the core members of the Hispanic Linguistics M.A./Ph.D. Program of the Linguistics Department.

My research and teaching areas of specialization are (1) sociolinguistics (especially variation, the ethnography of speaking, bilingualism, and language contact), (2) pragmatics (including discourse analysis), (3) language in institutional settings, particularly, language and the law, and (4) language and gender.

My publications include the book, The Bilingual Courtroom: Court Interpreters in the Judicial Process, 1990 and 2002, The University of Chicago Press. The book was awarded the prize for “Outstanding Book in the Field of Applied Linguistics” by the British Association of Applied Linguistics and was nominated for the Scribes Book Award by the American Bar Association. 

Articles that I have written on pragmatic aspects of legal language include: "Bilingual Courtroom Proceedings: The Role of the Court Interpreter," 1990, in Judith N. Levi y Anne Graffam Walker (eds.) Language in the Judicial Process, Plenum Press; "The Role of Register in the Bilingual Courtroom: Evaluative Reactions to Interpreted Testimony," 1989, the International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 79:79-91 (reprinted in Dalin D. Oaks, Linguistics at Work, 1998, Harcourt Brace College Publishers); "The Role of Linguistic Pragmatics in Court Interpreting," 1988, La Raza Law Journal 2(1)14-48; "The Impact of Politeness in Witness Testimony: The Influence of the Court Interpreter," 1988, Multilingua 7(4)411-439 (reprinted in Franz Poechhacker and Miriam Shlesinger (eds.), The Interpreting Studies Reader. Routledge: London/New York, pgs. 279-292); "The Intersection of Testimony Styles in Interpreted Judicial Proceedings: Pragmatic Alterations in Spanish Testimony," 1987 Linguistics 25:1087-1125; "The Impact of Court Interpreting on the Coerciveness of Leading Questions," Forensic Linguistics 6(1):30-56.

A new line of research within the field of language and the law that I have been exploring is the language of police interrogation, particularly as it relates to Spanish-speaking detainees. An outgrowth of this interest is a book manuscript in preparation, as well as publications on the subject ("Interpreting for the Police: Issues in Pre-trial Phases of the Judicial Process," Forensic Linguistics: The International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, 2000, 7(1):213-38; "Las advertencias Miranda y la coerción lingüística: cuando la policía alterna entre intérprete e interrogador," Revista Iberoamericana de Discurso y Sociedad 2001, 3(2):7-45; "The Miranda Warnings and Linguistic Coercion: The Role of Footing in the Interrogation of a Limited-English Speaking Murder Suspect," in Janet Cotterill (ed.), Language in the Legal Process, London: Palgrave (formerly St. Martins Press/McMillans), 2002.

Related to my interest in both language in legal settings and language and gender is an article co-authored with Shonna L. Trinch, "Narrating in Protective Order Interviews: A Source of Interactional Trouble," Language in Society, 2002, 31(3):383-418.

As a result of my interest in the field of language and the law, I have served as Secretary of the International Association of Forensic Linguists, and am a member of the editorial board of Forensic Linguistics: The International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law.

In addition to publishing in the field of language and the law, I have written about Spanish in Latin America, particularly Costa Rican Spanish. Among my publications in this area are the following: "The Phonological Correlates of Social Stratification in Costa Rican Spanish," 1978, Lingua, 46:1-28; "Subjective Reactions to Phonological Variation in Costa Rican Spanish,"1984, The Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 13(6)415-442; "Language and Political Behavior: A Methodology for Utilizing the Linguistic Component of Socio-economic Status," 1978, American Journal of Political Science, 22(3):712-741; "Sources of Variation in Spanish Verb Construction Usage: The Active, the Dative, and the Reflexive Passive," 1983, The Journal of Pragmatics, 7(2):145-168.

Another research interest of mine is bilingualism. My articles in this field include "Linguistic Constraints on Intra-Sentential Code-Switching: A Study of Spanish/Hebrew Bilingualism," 1986, Language in Society 15:313-348, and "A Sociolinguistic View of the Mexican-American Speech Community," 1980, Latin American Research Review, 15(2):65-110. 

My research interests both in language and the law as well as in Spanish in the U.S.A. have led me to apply my knowledge as a linguistic expert witness in cases involving the rights of linguistic minorities to speak a language other than English, particularly in the workplace. Thus, I have served as a linguistic expert in several class-action suits initiated either by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a federal organism that fights discrimination in the workplace, or by private law firms. In essence, these legal cases test the fairness of English-Only policies instituted by private companies. I have also served as an expert in cases involving the right to quality interpreting services in U.S. Immigration and Naturalization hearings. Finally, my knowledge of court interpreting issues has led to my appointment as a Research Affiliate of the National Center for State Courts (1998 to present) and an Advisory Committee member overseeing the Federal Court Interpreter's Certification Exam (2001 to present), an exam administered by the National Center for State Courts.

http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/page/jIel1u