Towards Teaching Forensic Linguistics: An Iranian Perspective

. Language and law are interwoven at many junctures. Language as an intrinsic part of human interactions has taken more legal effects and legal interactions are becoming globalized as societies develop new links. Teaching forensic linguistics as a vivid example of development of modern science, aiming at knowing, preserving and vindicating rights and responsibilities, has received a considerable attention and deals with language and law problems both in theory and practice and can enrich educational materials in different fields with the latest legal developments. Forensic linguistics is offered in many accredited universities and institutions as an independent field of study and research in teaching approaches of this field of study in Iranian university context takes more academic studies. The rationale for this study is exploring the dimensions of teaching forensic linguistics in Iranian academic setting. The participants of this qualitative study were 10 university lecturers in TEFL and Law. This study collected the required data through the study of forensic linguistics in accredited universities offering this field of study, library studies, semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaire. The data was analyzed based on the codes derived from the questionnaires and interviews. The findings show thatteaching forensic linguistics in Iran should highlight the need for novelty and authentic content and topics, focus on practical skills and team teaching. The findings of this research can be suitable for those interested and involved in forensic linguistics. Further research can be carried out on assessment and materials development for teaching forensic linguistics in Iran