Analysis of Spoken English

The genre of the spoken text is an extract from a reality TV programme called ‘Murder in Miami’, which follows two police officers from the Homicide Team in Miami Dade Police Force. In the text, they have been called to the scene of a crime, where a 22 year old man has been murdered by a rival gang member. After discussing the scene with the attending paramedic, the officers have to notify the victim’s parents. The audience for this show is mostly people who are interested in true crime and people who enjoy reality TV programmes. Due to the graphic and macabre nature of the show, the audience is not likely to be varied. In the text, the two detectives are in the early stages of dealing with a murder. After establishing the man’s identity and cause of death, the detectives have the harrowing task of telling the victim’s next of kin which is a highly emotive situation to watch/read. The purpose of the programme is to inform people about true-life crime and the ripple effect that it has on everyone involved, from the paramedics who respond to the scene, the detectives investigating and especially the victim and their family. It is also entertaining in a certain way because people have a morbid curiosity about murder and crime as they struggle to understand the reasons behind it. The show does get people’s adrenaline racing, creating a degree of excitement as the detectives race to catch the perpetrator. The interaction in the text is face-to-face, apart from the first part of dialogue which is heard as a one-way conversation when Dt. Hernandez is on the phone to the dispatch officer who is advising him on the murder. The text is referential because of the nature of the show, providing information about the victim and the location of the crime scene; “homicide on West Palmetto 9 (.) Just before West 87th”. It is also expressive because the detectives are vocal about their opinions on dealing with another murder; “malas noticias amigo (.) Bad news”. There is no small talk in the dialogue as there simply isn’t a place for it in this situation. The severity of the crime means that it would be misplaced and inappropriate. The conversation is transactional because at all stages of the dialogue, the exchange of information serves a purpose, whether this is to advise Dt. Hernandez on the location of the body, or to explain the situation to the victim’s family. The lexis is mostly informal with uses of colloquialism throughout, i.e. ‘dude, man, s.o.b’. There are uses of regional dialect in the dialogue as Dt. Hernandez is Hispanic. For example “ si...mi amigo” and “gracias”. Spanish words were used to make the dialect more authentic and give a sense of realism as there is a large Hispanic community in Miami. There are no fillers or filled pauses as the text is fast-paced and there is a time constraint on the detectives. Non-standard grammar is mainly used because the detectives know each other, there is only a more formal tone when the detectives are speaking to the parents, but even this isn’t overly formal as they still need to appear personable when breaking such bad news. There are uses of formal address such as ‘sir and ma’am’. Due to the nature of the programme and the emotions surrounding the crime, there is lots of stress on negative words such as “DAMN”, “why” and “wasted”. These are stressed utterances to highlight the frustration of the situation. The volume goes up when the detectives are speaking to the victim’s