Connecting disciplinary concepts and language: A study of legal literacy development in a second language and legal culture
Open Access
- Author:
- Hartig, Alissa Joy
- Graduate Program:
- Applied Linguistics
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 05, 2014
- Committee Members:
- Celeste S Kinginger, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Celeste S Kinginger, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Karen E Johnson, Committee Member
Xiaofei Lu, Committee Member
Caroline Sheldon, Special Member
Dorothy H Evensen, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Legal writing
English for Specific Purposes
concept-based instruction
second language writing - Abstract:
- While research in legal literacy has suggested that the development of expertise is intimately linked to domain-specific conceptual knowledge, language instruction in English for Legal Purposes (ELP) has traditionally drawn a sharp distinction between language form and legal content. The few extant empirical studies of legal literacy largely treat reasoning, reading, and writing as distinct areas and focus primarily on learning law in one’s first language. Little work has been done to explore how lawyers from other legal systems and language backgrounds acquire proficiency in U.S. legal discourse. Drawing on a Vygotskyan sociocultural theoretical framework, the study addresses these gaps by employing a conceptual approach to second language legal literacy instruction, emphasizing the ways in which fundamental common law concepts structure the genres that law students in the U.S. read and write. A case study of four international Master of Laws (LL.M.) students, two from China and two from Saudi Arabia, was conducted over the course of their first semester in a legal writing course at a law school in the United States. The study examines in detail how students’ changing understanding of common law concepts is reflected in their written texts and reading practices. Analysis draws on various data sources but focuses on a microgenetic analysis of all drafts of student writing from the legal writing course, audiovisual recordings of concept-based instruction sessions, and audiovisual recordings of individual dynamic assessment sessions. The study provides insight into the question of how legal language, common law concepts, and other factors, such as lexicogrammatical awareness and social context, interact in the development of legal literacy in a second language and legal culture.