Forensic Linguistics
I am a permanent resident of Philadelphia and an expert consultant in forensic linguistics
Co-Chair, with Diana Eades, of the international Communication of Rights Group (CoRG)
Publications
Pavlenko, A. (2023) Language proficiency as a matter of law: Judicial reasoning on Miranda waivers by speakers with limited English proficiency (LEP). The International Journal of the Semiotics of Law.
Pavlenko, A. (2021) Feigned incompetence: The pitfalls of evaluating Miranda comprehension in non-native speakers of English. Language and Law, 8, 1, 97-119.
Urbanik, P. & Pavlenko, A. (2021) Securing understanding in a second language: Communication of rights in investigative interviews in the US and Norway. In Blackwood, R. & U. Royland (eds.) Spaces of multilingualism. Routledge, pp. 92-112.
Pavlenko, A., Hepford, E., Tavella, C. & S. Mihalovic (2020) Everyone has the right to understand: Teaching legal rights to ESL students. TESOL Journal, 11, e570.
Eades, D. & Pavlenko, A. (2020) Transformando pesquisa em políticas: Novas diretrizes para comunicar direitos a falantes não nativos [Translating research into policy: New guidelines for communicating rights to non-native speakers]. In Celestino de Almeida, D., Coulthard, M. & R. Sousa-Silva (eds.) Perspectivas em linguística forense [Perspectives in forensic linguistics]. Campinas, SP: Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
Pavlenko, A., Hepford, E. & S. Jarvis (2019) An illusion of understanding: How native and non-native speakers of English understand (and misunderstand) their Miranda rights. International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, 26, 2, 181-207. Winner of the 2021 AAAL Research Article Award
Pavlenko, A. (2017) Do you wish to waive your rights?: Emotions and decision-making in multilingual speakers. Current Opinion in Psychology, 17, 74-78.
Eades, D. & Pavlenko, A. (2016) Translating research into policy: New guidelines for communicating rights to non-native speakers. Language and Law/Linguagem e Direito, 3, 2.
Pavlenko, A., Eades, D. & M. van Naerssen (2016) Communicating Miranda rights to non-native speakers of English. The Champion (journal of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers), vol. XL, n 3, p. 57.
Pavlenko, A. (2008) Non-native speakers of English and the Miranda warnings. TESOL Quarterly, 42, 1, 1-30. Winner of the 2009 TESOL Award for Distinguished Research.
Courtroom testimony as expert witness
People v. Iryn Myers, Bath, NY, February 2017 - Expert witness for the prosecution.
United States v. Dias Kadyrbayev, Boston, MA, April 2014 - Expert witness for the defense. For description of the case, see Pavlenko, A. (2014) A linguist’s foray into the 'real world': Why Dias Kadyrbayev was highly unlikely to understand his Miranda rights.
State of Delaware v. Irina Malinovskaya, Wilmington, DE, December 2005 - Expert witness for the defense. For description of the case, see Pavlenko, A. (2008) "I’m very not about the law part": Non-native speakers of English and the Miranda warnings. TESOL Quarterly, 42, 1, 1-30 (Winner of the 2009 TESOL Award for Distinguished Research).
Conferences and public events
Presenter at the video-recorded Language and Law forum, Salt Lake City, Utah, April 2018
Organizer of the Multilingualism, forensic linguistics and law conference, Oslo, Norway, October 11, 2017