The Influence of Courtroom Discourse on Public Perception through Mass Media

The purpose of this research was to conduct a perceptual analysis of news reports among multilingual respondents (159 participants) to identify how prosodic features (e.g., intonation, tempo, pauses, and emphasis) affect listeners' perception of news reports, which words participants mentioned, and the extent to which these words relate to legal terminology. The research methodology comprised the selection of news items, preparation of an information letter and consent form, survey development, participant selection, survey administration, as well as qualitative and quantitative data analysis and comparative descriptive analysis of the results. The analysis revealed significant differences in the linguistic and statistical profiles of news reports in Kazakh, Russian, and English. In American jurisprudence, prosecutors and defense lawyers purposefully manage intonation to hold the audience's attention and create a dramatic effect. Speech strategies such as lengthening words, emphasizing sound signals, and using pauses are used to create a tense atmosphere. In Kazakh courtroom discourse, however, intonation fluctuations are more often conditioned by the speakers' emotional state. Moreover, the Kazakh language segment showed a high concentration of specialized terminology, predominantly legal concepts, while a wider thematic spectrum characterizes the Russian news segment. This indicates the anthropocentric nature of information presentation. The American news segment exhibits maximum polysemy and interdisciplinary terminology, reflecting an integrated approach to reporting events with a focus on factual accuracy in a global context.