Abstract:

The English language is recognized as a polycentric language, which means that it is spoken in a number of countries. National variants of English have their own linguistic peculiarities manifested at the phonetic, lexical and grammatical levels. On the other hand, the English language has gained the reputation of a modern Lingua Franca, used as a means of communication in the fields of international business, trade, law, politics and culture. People learn English in order to be able to establish relations with foreign partners as this language opens the doors to transnational cooperation. However, there appear to be some questions concerning the choice of the national variant of English that must be taught to students. Traditionally the British and American variants were preferred to other national variants. The survey, carried out in major Russian universities, showed the tendency to teach above mentioned languages as models of English. It is quite understandable as the influence of the UK and especially the USA on the international community cannot be disputed. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning that from pedagogical perspective attention should be paid to other national variants of English, for example, Canadian English. This approach may be justified by the fact that Canada is an active participant on the international arena and a fully-fledged member of various intergovernmental organizations. It is fair to say that if you acquire a good command of, for instance, American English you will be able to communicate successfully in such countries as Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. However, you may come across some problems when it comes to specific spheres such as legal communication, for example, judicial discourse. This obstacle may be explained by the fact that the communication in a courtroom is characterized by strict rules and rituals which have been established for centuries. They embedded national peculiarities conditioned by historical development and the culture. These specific features are reflected in the way lawyers and judges communicate, because the language is the basis of law and legal profession. It makes judicial discourse to a great degree a unique socio-linguistic phenomenon which is closely related to the given state. Hence, it can be presumed that the teaching of the English for specific purposes, legal English in particular, should be nationally oriented. The aim of this article is to examine the national peculiarities of courtroom communication in Canada by means of discourse analysis.

The features which will be studied are the following:
1) judicial concepts and terminology of Canadian Supreme Court discourse;
2) grammatical peculiarities inherent in judicial communication in Canada;
3) communicative strategies followed by Canadian Supreme Court judges and lawyers.

The results of this research may be implemented in the process of teaching English language for specific purposes, for discourse analysis helps to reveal and interpret national linguistic characteristics of professionally-based communication.

Keywords:

Legal discourse, judicial discourse, Canada, Supreme Court of Canada, discourse analysis.