DIFFICULTIES IN LEGAL ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION TO ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS AT HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY
Main Article Content
Abstract
Legal English, a style of ESP (English for Specific Purpose), is an indispensable factor contributing to the development of legal field. It cannot be denied that legal English reading comprehension plays an important role in learning legal English as it sets the basis for other skills. This present research, which makes use of survey questionnaires as the main method, aims to identify difficulties in legal English reading comprehension encountered by English majored students at Hanoi Law University. The results reveal that the majority of the participants have troubles in terms of linguistic aspects of legal English language, background knowledge of law subjects and psychological factors. It is expected that these findings do propose a number of suggestions for teachers in legal English teaching process.
Article Details
Keywords
difficulties, legal English, Hanoi Law University
References
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Latha, M. (2014). Teaching English for specific purpose: Challenges involved (with reference to English as a foreign language). International Journal of English and Literature, 4(1), 117-122.
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Pulido, D. (2004). The relationship between text comprehension and second language incidental vocabulary acquisition: A matter of topic familiarity? Language Learning, 54(3), 469–523.
Qin Xiaoquing (2002). The relationship between motivation and achievement – A study of motivation of English majors. Qingdao Agricultural University.
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Tarkhova, L. (2007). Challenges of teaching and learning legal English. Russian University of Economics.
Tiersma, P. (1999). Legal English. University of Chicago Press.
Tran, Q. T., & Duong, M. T. (2018). The difficulties in ESP reading comprehension encountered by English-majored Students. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 34(2), 151-161. https://doi.org/10.25073/2525-2445/vnufs.4253
Van den Broek, P., & Espin, C. A. (2012). Connecting cognitive theory and assessment: Measuring individual differences in reading comprehension. School Psychology Review, 41(3), 315-325. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2012.12087512
Veretina-Chiriac, I. (2012). Characteristics and features of legal English vocabulary. Revistă Ştiinţifică a Universităţii de Stat din Moldova, 4(54), 103-107. https://humanities.studiamsu.md/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/20.-p.103-107.pdf
White, J. B. (1982). The invisible discourse of the law. Reflections on legal literacy and general education. Michigan Quarterly Review, 21(3), 420-438.
Widdowson, H. G. (1983). Learning purpose and language use. Oxford University Press.
Christensen, L. (2007). Legal reading and success in law school: An empirical study. Seattle University Law Review, 30, 603-649.
Deegan, D. H. (1995). Exploring individual differences among novices reading in a specific domain: The case of law. Reading Research Quarterly, 30(2), 154–170. https://doi.org/10.2307/748030
Dewitz, P. (1997, March 24-28). Comprehension instruction: A research agenda for the 21st century: Understanding expository texts [Paper presentation]. Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL, United States.
Gotti, M. (2016). The translation of legal texts: Interlinguistic and intralinguistic perspectives. ESP today, 4(1), 5-21.
Gurthrie, J. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience & school. The National Academies Press.
Ha, T. T. (2011). A study on second-year students’ difficulties in reading ESP materials at automobile technology department in Vietnam-Korea Technical College [Unpublished Master’s thesis]. Vietnam-Korea Technical College.
Haigh, R. (2009). Legal English. Routledge-Cavendishi.
Ho, V. C. (2016). A study of reading comprehension problems in English encountered by first-year students of faculty of Vietnamese studies at HNUE [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Hanoi National University of Education.
Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes: A learning-centred approach. Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511733031
Latha, M. (2014). Teaching English for specific purpose: Challenges involved (with reference to English as a foreign language). International Journal of English and Literature, 4(1), 117-122.
Marzano, R. J. (2004). Building background knowledge for academic achievement: Research on what works in Schools. Association for supervision and curriculum development.
Mattila, H. (2006). Comparative legal linguistics. Ashgate.
McKenna, M. C. (2001). Development of reading attitudes. In L. Verhoeven & C. E. Snow (Eds.), Literacy and motivation: Reading engagement in individuals and groups (pp. 135–158). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Mellinkoff, D. (2004). The language of the law. Resource Publications.
Nguyen, N. T. H., & Kim, T. K. (2021). Difficulties in reading comprehension of English majored sophomores at Tay Do University, Cantho, Vietnam. European Journal of English Language Teaching, 6(3), 46-75. https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejel/article/view/3590
Nguyen, P. V. C., Tran, P. P. U., Cap, T. V., & Ho, T. N. (2016, April 15). Characteristics of legal English: linguistic challenges in translation. Nguyen Phuoc Vinh Co. https://nguyenphuocvinhco.com/2016/04/15/dac-trung-cua-tieng-anh-phap-ly-nhung-thach-thuc-ve-ngon-ngu-trong-dich-thuat-characteristics-of-legal-english-linguistic-challenges-in/
Northcott, J. (2008). Language education for law professionals. In J. Gibbons & M. T. Turell (Eds.), Dimensions of Forensic Linguistics (pp. 27-45). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Prince, P. (1996). Second language vocabulary learning. The Modern Language Journal, 80(4), 478-493.
Pulido, D. (2004). The relationship between text comprehension and second language incidental vocabulary acquisition: A matter of topic familiarity? Language Learning, 54(3), 469–523.
Qin Xiaoquing (2002). The relationship between motivation and achievement – A study of motivation of English majors. Qingdao Agricultural University.
Rose, J. (2006). Independent review of the teaching of early reading: Final report. Department for Education and Skills. https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/5551/2/report.pdf
Rosyidah, R. H. (2013). Students’ difficulties in reading ESP (English for specific purposes) at Tarbiyah Department University of Muhammadiyah Malang [Unpublished Bachelor’s thesis]. University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
Rylance, P. (1994). Legal writing and drafting. Blackstone.
Saliu, B. (2013). Challenges for learners/ teachers in the ESP course for legal studies. SEEU Review, 9(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.2478/seeur-2013-0001
Schane, S. (2006). Language and the law. UCSD Linguistics.
Shabani, K., Khatib, M., & Ebadi, S. (2010) Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development: Instructional implications and teachers’ professional development. English Language Teaching, 3, 237-248. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v3n4p237
Tarchi, C. (2010). Reading comprehension of informative texts in secondary school: A focus on direct and indirect effects of reader’s prior knowledge. Learning and Individual Differences, 20, 415-420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2010.04.002.
Tarkhova, L. (2007). Challenges of teaching and learning legal English. Russian University of Economics.
Tiersma, P. (1999). Legal English. University of Chicago Press.
Tran, Q. T., & Duong, M. T. (2018). The difficulties in ESP reading comprehension encountered by English-majored Students. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 34(2), 151-161. https://doi.org/10.25073/2525-2445/vnufs.4253
Van den Broek, P., & Espin, C. A. (2012). Connecting cognitive theory and assessment: Measuring individual differences in reading comprehension. School Psychology Review, 41(3), 315-325. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2012.12087512
Veretina-Chiriac, I. (2012). Characteristics and features of legal English vocabulary. Revistă Ştiinţifică a Universităţii de Stat din Moldova, 4(54), 103-107. https://humanities.studiamsu.md/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/20.-p.103-107.pdf
White, J. B. (1982). The invisible discourse of the law. Reflections on legal literacy and general education. Michigan Quarterly Review, 21(3), 420-438.
Widdowson, H. G. (1983). Learning purpose and language use. Oxford University Press.