![Marianne Mason Marianne Mason image](../../../_images/forlang/faculty-photos/marianne_mason.jpg)
Associate Professor, Translation/Interpreting Studies
masonmx@jmu.edu
Contact Info
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-mason-790b6b5b/
Office
Keezell 428
Fall 2024 Office Hours:
M 1-4pm online; also W on Zoom by appointment after 5pm
Education
Ph.D. University of Georgia (Linguistics)
Courses
SPAN 436: Community Interpreting
SPAN 496: Translation/Interpreting Internship
FL 430: Forensic Linguistics: Language and the Law
Research and Teaching Interests
Language and the Law/Forensic Linguistics, Discourse/Conversation Analysis, Game Theoretic Pragmatics, Statistical Corpus Linguistics, Translation/Interpreting Studies, Technology-Enhanced Learning
Current Research Project
American Council of Learned Societies/ACLS Fellowship Award/Fellow 2018-2019. Research Project Title: Language at the Center of the American Justice System.
Project Link: https://www.acls.org/research/fellow.aspx?cid=fd333bdb-eb22-e811-80d3-000c299476de
Professional Bio
I am an associate professor (with tenure) of forensic linguistics and interpreting/translation at James Madison University (JMU). I am the coordinator of the SETI (translation/interpretation) minor as well as a faculty member of the Linguistics Minor and Legal Studies Minor. Prior to joining JMU, I was a professor of linguistics and languages at Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia State University.
My areas of research are informed by my educational background in statistics and linguistics. I hold a BBA in production management/statistics, MA in translation, and a PhD in linguistics (University of Georgia). My areas of research are game theoretic pragmatics/discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, language and the law/forensic linguistics, and translation/interpreting studies.
Forensic Linguistics
Since the early 2000s I have been researching language and the law. I have examined language use in covertly-taped conversations of drug cartel members, interpreter-mediated bilingual courtroom testimony in both state and federal courts, and legal drug statutes. Since the last decade, my work has focused on police-lay person exchanges in the United States. This research focuses on the invocation of rights stage of custodial interrogation, the laws regarding the invocation of Miranda rights, as well as the discursive features of police interrogations and interviews: both in the United States and jurisdictions abroad. The role of police interviewing training in police interrogation reform in the United States is also at the forefront of the analysis. As a forensic linguist, I have provided expert forensic linguistic testimony
and reports, in the areas of police interrogation (e.g., invocation of rights and interrogation techniques), interpretation of legal statutes, and interpreter-mediated exchanges in the courtroom.
Publications
Books
Mason, M. Police Interrogation, Language, and the Law: The Invocation Game (forthcoming/2024), Cambridge University Press.
Link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/police-interrogation-language-and-the-law/AA220D168F3D9E018E75BF517C813F97
Mason, M. and F. Rock. Eds. The Discourse of Police Interviews (2020), University of Chicago Press.
Link: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/D/bo41210416.html
Mason, M. Courtroom Interpreting (2008), Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group.
Link: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780761841746/Courtroom-Interpreting
Select Peer-Reviewed Articles
Mason, M. and Mason, R. D. (2023). Reconsidering Miranda Rights: Modeling Strategic Action during the Invocation Stage of a Police Interrogation. Rationality and Society. Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10434631231194521
Mason, M (2018). Negotiated Exchanges and Linguistic Footing in the Spanish-English Bilingual Courtroom: Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice. 1-14.
Mason, M. (2016). The ‘Preparatory’ and ‘Argumentation’ Stages of Police Interrogation: A Linguistic Analysis of a Criminal Investigation. Language & Communication 48: 79-87.
Mason, M. (2015) The Role of Interpreters in Adjudicating Blame: An Examination of Spanish Clitics and Active-Passive Voice in a Spanish/English Bilingual Criminal Trial. Translation and Interpreting Studies: The Journal of the Translation and Interpreting Studies Association (Dec., 10.2).
Mason, M. (2013) Can I get a Lawyer?: A Suspect's Use of Indirect Requests in a Custodial Setting. The International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law 20(2): 203-227.
Mason, M. and R. D. Mason. (2012) Communicating a Green Corporate Perspective: Ideological Persuasion in the Corporate Environmental Report. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 26(4): 478-505.
Mason, M. (2011) Examining the Rhetorical Structure and Discursive Features of Letters of Leniency as a Genre. Pragmatics: Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association 21(1): 111-26.
Mason, M. (2008) Psychics and the ‘Other Side': A Discourse Analysis of Televised Psychic Readings. Pragmatics: Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association 18(3): 453-68.
Mason, M. and Mason, R. D. (2006) Legal Standards for Establishing Concealment: A Theoretical Framework for Statistical Analysis. Police Quarterly 9: 291-302.
Mason, M. (2004) Referential Choices and the Need for Repairs in Covertly Taped Conversations. Journal of Pragmatics 36: 1139-56.
Under review
Mason, M., Mason, R. D. (under review). Changing Perceptions: Strategic Action within the Law.
Select Grants/Fellowships
Language at the Center of the American Justice System, ACLS Fellowship Program (fellow 2018)
Link: https://www.acls.org/fellow-grantees/marianne-mason/
Legal Reports and Expert Witness Testimony
Testified and provided expert opinions/reports in multiple criminal cases.
Membership (Organizations)
International Association for Forensic and Legal Linguistics
National Association of Judiciary Interpreters & Translators/NAJIT
Linguistic Society of America
Consortium for Undergraduate Law & Justice Programs
Journal and Professional Boards
Editorial Board Member--Translation and Interpreting Studies: The Journal of the American Translation and Interpreting Studies Association
Board Member: Society for the Study of Translation and Interpretation (SSTI)/National Association of Judiciary Interpreters (NAJIT), Elected Board of Directors Member