The rapid development of Chinäs economy has resulted in various kinds of conflict of interest (COI). This study focuses on how COI is resolved in Chinese civil court hearings via discourse information processing. Based on Discourse Information Theory, and the notions of Context Model Schema and Discourse Space, an analytical framework is constructed for the description, analysis and interpretation of the language used in Chinese court hearings.
Data analysis has revealed the following major findings: a) litigants in Chinese civil court hearings mainly resort to three information categories when making interest appeals: subjective, objective and explanatory information; b) the process of interest negotiation in court hearings is greatly influenced by such sociological, psychological and discursive factors as identities, intentions, information sharing status, discourse expectations, etc.; and c) different discourse management strategies are adopted to promote conciliation between litigants, among which information management, cognitive management and linguistic management are the most frequently used.

Yunfeng Ge, PhD, works as a teacher and researcher in the School of Foreign Languages, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China. His research interests include forensic linguistics, discourse analysis, genre analysis, and cognitive linguistics, on which several international publications were focused.

Introduction - Discourse analysis and Courtroom Discourse - Theoretical Framework and Methodology - Features of Discourse Information in Interest Appeal - Factors Influencing Interest Negotiation - Discourse Management for Reaching Agreement - Conclusion