INTERPERSONAL INTERACTION IN JUDICIAL TEXTS IN THE UK FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF METADISCOURSE THEORY: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

The analysis of interpersonal features in discourse is a focal point in contemporary linguistic research. This article examines the characteristics of interpersonal interaction in judicial texts, a specific genre of legal discourse issued by the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. This study adopts the metadiscourse theory developed by Hyland (2005) as a theoretical framework for analyzing interpersonal features in judicial discourse. Drawing on a judicial text published on the Supreme Court's website, this study employs descriptive linguistic methods, discourse analysis, and statistical techniques to identify the interpersonal features of the text. The findings reveal that boosters, attitude markers, and self-mentions, with respective figures of 35.8%, 24.6%, and 24%, respectively, occur more frequently than engagement markers and hedges.This study confirms the effectiveness of metadiscourse theory in analyzing the interpersonal meanings of written texts.