Dumas, Bethany K.

• Type: Chapter or Part of a Book
• Date: 2025

Authors

Gaines, Philip (Author) Other; Sousa-Silva, Rui (Author) FLUP

Book

Title: The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics

ISBN: 9781405194730

Electronic ISBN: 9781405198431

Publisher: Wiley Online Library

Indexing

Crossref

Other information

DOI: 10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0343.pub2

Abstract (EN): Bethany Dumas was a scholar of forensic linguistics whose specialties were the discourse of product warning labels and the comprehensibility of pattern jury instructions. Bethany K. Dumas (1937–2021) was a scholar of language and law whose contributions in a broad range of domains helped set the agenda for the emerging field of forensic linguistics. Dumas received her PhD in Linguistics in 1971 from the University of Arkansas with a concentration in dialectology. In 1974, following teaching posts at Southwest Missouri State University and Trinity University, Dumas was granted a professorship at the main University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, where she taught, researched, and published for the remainder of her lengthy career. Dumas later earned her JD from the University of Tennessee in 1985—a qualification that enhanced her scholarly and professional impact at the interface of language and law. Prior to developing her central focus on forensic linguistics, Dumas taught and researched in a number of related academic and pedagogical domains: dialectology, women's language, discourse analysis, applied linguistics, bilingual education, and student writing, among others. Two of these merit at least brief additional attention.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

Notes: First published: 26 May 2025. The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics was first published: 5 November 2012