Abstract
This study aims to analyze the impact of prosodic features on participants’ perception and recall of words after watching courtroom shows. Based on the results of a survey conducted among 18 respondents with a high level of English proficiency, the study investigates and analyzes the potential influence of prosodic characteristics using quantitative, acoustic, and ANOVA-based statistical analysis. The focus was on identifying the connection between prosodic features such as intonation, pitch, and accent, and their influence on the memorization of legal and neutral terms. Two fragments of popular court shows were selected - “Sudebnyi Dela” and “Divorce Court”. The results showed that legal terms were more often remembered from the Russian program, which was associated with a more formal style and accented prosodic elements, while emotionally charged statements from the American show led to the memorization of phrases unrelated to legal topics, but possessing vivid prosodic characteristics. Prosodic analysis revealed that changes in pitch, accentuation and emotional coloring increase the audience’s susceptibility to certain phrases. The results highlight the role of prosody in shaping the perception of legal media programs.