The criminal courtroom investigation is litigious activities that aim at ascertaining the facts of evidence and the case though judicial acts like allegations, questions, evidence presentations, and cross-examinations at court under the court's conductor, with the participation of the parties and other subjects.
The fundamental principles of criminal courtroom investigation are doctrine of presumption of innocence, participation of the subjects, verbal trial, and the neutrality and independence of the judges, etc.
With the guidance of Jan Svennevig's four principles about topical talk, this thesis tries to reveal the value of topic analysis in Chinese courtroom questioning through the analysis of topic manipulation in two criminal trials. Based on the transcription of two Chinese criminal courtroom questioning, this thesis is both descriptive and interpretive.