Abd Rahim, Nur Athirah and Ariffin, Adlina
(2023)
Language Deception: analysis of conversation of male and female criminals.
In: Malaysian Association of Applied Linguistics International Conference 2023 (MAALIC 2023), 5 & 6 September 2023, Kuala Lumpur.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Deception in the form of lying has become a tool to achieve one’s goal, be it in a formal or
informal setting. The ability to lie is not as crucial as to successfully lying one’s way out in a
police interview or investigation with a possibility of life sentences. Despite gaining interest
among researchers, to date, most studies have investigated this issue from psychological and
sociological perspectives. Meanwhile, studies from the linguistic perspective are very limited. To
fill this gap, this study was conducted to investigate the linguistic features of lying utilised in the
conversation of a male and female criminal during police interrogation sessions. The
conversation data of Chris Watts and Jennifer Pan was accessed via Youtube which presented
legitimate police interviews in its natural setting. Using a mixed-method approach, the data was
analysed by utilising Bachenko et al. (2008) Linguistic Indicator of Deception which covers two
major aspects 1) lack of commitment to a statement or declaration and 2) preference for negative
expressions in word choice, syntactic structure and semantics. The findings were able to
accentuate the differences and similarities between male and female criminals in their use of
language to deceive the police investigators to avoid conviction and punishment. This study also
reveals the importance of identifying other peculiar variables in deceptive communication to
further enhance the understanding of deception and its methods.
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