Application of Phonetics in Forensic Science and Language Learning

Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies the production and

classification of speech sounds. This production of speech refers to how different
vocal organs interact with each other to produce distinctive sounds. Meanwhile, the
classification of speech refers to how those particular sounds are organized in
different groups; these can be found in the International Phonetics Alphabet (IPA)
(All about Linguistics, n.d.). Moreover, phonetics is considered a helpful and
important discipline since it has a wide range of applications, such as forensic
science and learning a foreign language.

The application of phonetics in forensic science is regarded as one of the

most valuable disciplines in helping solve criminal cases. Also known as forensic
phonetics, it is an interdisciplinary field that applies the methods and theories of
phonetics in a police or investigative context. It works with several aspects, such as
speaker profiling, content identification, voice line-ups, tape authentication, and
speaker identification. In criminal cases, phoneticians are in charge of decoding an
individual’s voice, analyzing their social or economic background, and identifying
their whereabouts just by listening to background noises. They consider the voice to
be an emblem of the speaker (Suneetha, 2020).

Additionally, the use of phonetics while learning a foreign language is a

valuable tool for learners. It helps improve the intonation and pronunciation of words
by showing how to produce particular sounds using particular organs; an activity that
would not be as visible in other fields such as grammar, as it would be in phonetics.
(Camargo et al., n.d.).The main goal of phonetics in this field is to guide the learners
to become more fluent and aspire to speak as naturally as a native speaker would.

In short, phonetics is a discipline that has proven to be beneficial for many

fields and situations, such as solving criminal cases and improving one’s verbal
fluency in a foreign language.
 List of References

All about Linguistics. (n.d.). Phonetics. https://all-about-

linguistics.group.shef.ac.uk/branches-of-linguistics/phonetics/

Camargo, M; Leon, N; Mendoza, D; Blanco, D. (2018). The Importance Of

Phonetics In Language Learning. Calaméo.
https://es.calameo.com/read/005847558f50aca12f5ab

Suneetha, D. G. (2020). Establishment of a Forensic Speech Science Center in

India and its Efficacy. International Journal of English Literature and Social
Sciences, 5(3), 681-684. https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijels.53.19