Luận văn tốt nghiệp: Examining difficulties strategies for improving legal English vocabulary of legal English major students at Hanoi Law University

The analysis of the difficulties in learning lege English vorebulary 33, The analysis ofthe students’ vocabulary learning strategies for learning legel English 4.3.6 Vocabulary learning

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MINISTRV OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THIKIM DUNG

453255

EXAMINING DIFFICULTIES STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING LEGAL ENGLISH VOCABULARY OF LEGAL ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI

LAW UNIVERSITY

GRADUATION THESIS

Hanoi - 2023

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

NGUYEN THIKIM DUNG

453255

EXAMINING DIFFICULTIES STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING LEGAL ENGLISH VOCABULARY OF LEGAL ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI

LAW UNIVERSITY

KHAO SAT NHỮNG KHO KHAN VÀ CHIẾN LƯỢC CAL THIEN TỪ VỰNG TIENG ANH PHAP LY CUA SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN NGANH TIENG ANH PHAP LÝ TẠI TRƯỜNG

ĐẠI HỌC LUAT HÀ NOI

Major: Legal English

GRADUATION THESIS

Supervisor

‘Vu Van Tuan, Ph.D.

STUDENT DECLARATION

Thereby state that I:Nguyen Thi Kim Ding — ID 453255, being a candidate forthe degree of Bachelor of Arts accept the requirements of the University relating

to the retention and we of Bachelor s Graduation Paper deposited in the library

Interms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in theIbvary should be accessible forthe purposes of shudy and research in accordancewith the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan orreproduction ofthe paper

Hanoi, December 26%, 2023

Supervisor's confirmation Researcher's signature

Fr

Tung the process of doing this gadustion thesis, I have received muchnecessary assistance, valuable opinions, and encouragement from teachers family,end friends This thesis might not have been come up to my expectations withoutthe encouragement and support of those who deserve my sincere gratitude and

eppreciation

First of all, [would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor

-Dr Vu Văn Tuan, for fis valuable guidance on my gadustion thesis, patience,enthusiasm, and immense knowledge He is always enthusiastic and dedicated toguiding mein all the stages of completing the thesis

Secondly, I would love to send my sincere thanks to all the steff andlecturers of the Faculty of Legel Foreign Languages at Hanoi Lew University,

‘where I have had the honor of studying for the pest four years and provided withvaluable language knowledge for this research process

Twwould eso like to thank the members ofthe thesis defence committee forspending their valuable time and extensive professional knowledge to offerconstructive comments end suggestions forthe thesis Theis favourable remarkshave been integgatedin the bookbinding of this thesis

1 would also like to sincerely thank the students K45 and KA46 for theirenthusiastic participation in the research Their kind hearted contribution played

sm essential pert in the completion ofthis study

Lest but not Least I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my bigfamily and fiends, who apply me with emotional support, encouragement, greattolerance and unconditional love not only in the success of this research, but alsollwalks of life

In the context of a global economy end integration, the need for legalpractitioners who cen pasticipste in consulting, negotiating, and dafting legaldocuments is increasing Many lew insitutions have begun to focus on providingknowledge of legel English to train Inman resources to serve this demand Inlesening legal English, one of the utmost issues to pay attention to is vocabularybecause it hes many unique festures thet are different from other types of ESP

‘This study investigates the difficulties that legel English mejor students encounter

in the process of scquiring vocabulary as well as proposes some strategies to helpstudents improve their legel English vocabulary knowledge The research wasconducted on 166 legel English students who were in courses 45 end 46 at HanoiLaw University, using mixed methods, The findings indicete thet the prominent

&fficulties faced by students are the use of Archaic and foreignvborrawed words,the use of reciprocal words, the use of synonymy in legel texminalogy, and thenon-equvelence in Vietnamese legal terminology The results on vocabularylesening strstegies show thet social strategies wore used with the highestfrequency, while memory strategies were used the leest frequently Through theresults, some implications end recommendations about ESP vocabulary lesrningstrategies are suggested for references More specifically, these findings would

‘benefit the school administrators to consult for he promulgation of the renovetive1egal English policies, teachers who are dixectly in charge of teachinglegel Englishsubjects, students who are major in this legal field, and those who are interested inimproving legal vocabulary

1 Rationale for study

Aims and Objectives of the Study

2.1 Aims of the study

22 Objectives of the study

3 Research Questions

4, Scope of the Study

5 Significence of the Study

6 Methodology

7 Structure of the Study

1

13

PART Il DEVELOPMENT

(CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW

The overview of vorabulary

LLL Defiration

112 Types.ef vocabulary

113 The aspects of vocabulary

‘The overview of legal English

1.21 Legal English vocabulary andits characteristic

1.2.2 The importance of legal English vocabulary

‘The overview of vocabulary leering strategies

13.1 Toeabrlany lennning strategy

1.3.2 Clevifying Schmitt's vocabulary learning strategies

Page

1.3.3 The importance of vocabulary learning strategies

1.4 Previous studies on difficulties and strategies in Iearning legal

CHAPTER 3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1, Demoggaphic information ofthe respondents

32 The analysis of the difficulties in learning lege English

vorebulary

33, The analysis ofthe students’ vocabulary learning strategies for

learning legel English

4.3.6 Vocabulary learning strategies most employed by legal

English major students

3.4 The summative analysis of students’ semi-structured interviews

guide on legel English vocabulary leaning suategies

4.1, Summary of the min findings

4.1.1, Learners’ difficulties in learving legal English

4.1.2 Legal Englishmajor students’ vocabulary learnang strategies

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Profiles ofthe respondents imolving inthe study

Table 2 Learners’ dificulties in learning legal English vocabulary

Table 3 The descriptive statics of PLS used by participants

Table 4 The analysis of determination strategies

Table § The analysis of social strategies

Table 6 The analysis of memory’ strategies

Table 7 The analysit of cogmtive strategies

Table 8 The analysis of metacognative strategies

Table 9, The len most frequent TLS

Table 10 Sionmarized analysis of shidents’ semi-structured interviews

iz

4

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

coe Cognitive strategies

DET Determination strategies

EFL English as a Foreign Language

ELP English for Lege Purposes

ESP English for Specific Purposes

HLU Hanoi Law University

Li Mother Language/Mother Tongue

12 Second Language

LE Legel English

MEM Memory strategies

MET Metacognitive strategies

soc Social strategies

ULAW Ho Chỉ Minh City University of Law

VLS `V ocebulary learning strategies

PARTI INTRODUCTION

‘This part provides the context of the research by explaining the rationale,sims of the study, research questions, significence, and scope of the study, slongwith the structure of the paper

1 Rationale for study

Inthe process of teaching end earning « foreign language, the development

of & student's vocebulary is seen S9 being of utinost importance (Susento, 2017).According to Algghtami (2015), developing a strong vocabulary is crucial foreffectively using « second language (L2) end is crucial for producing coherentspoken end waitten forms Learning vocabulary is essential for improving allenguage abilities including heating, specking reading, end writing in English asSecond Language (ESL) end English os « Foreign Lenguage (EFL) As seportedbby Vafase and Sưzudd (2020), vocabulary knowledge considerably influencesstudents’ listening ability To be more specific, when conducting research, theyobteined results thet vocebulary knowledge was twice as influential as syntacticknowledge in L? listening ability In other words, apart from syntactic knowledge,vocabulary knowledge plays a central role in helping leamers succeed inlisteningcomprehension Bloomfield et al, 2010), Regarding speaking ability, Dalimuntheend Heryach (2022) essest that students’ lexical mastery directly impacts speakingstalls It means thet the speeking skills of a student with œ sich or insufficientVocebulary are different Students’ vocabulary includes active and passiveVoceblary, while active vocabulary is used frequently in spesking For L2leseners, active vocabulary is usuelly les than passive vocabulary, so L2 leemners

re often in need of being given assistance in expressing speaking ebility in case

of lacking active vocebulary Regerdingreading sills, many studies (e.g, Manyek

& Bauer, 1009, Martin Chang & Gould, 2008; Ricketts et al, 2007) indicate thetvocebulery knowledge facilitetes students to develop better readingcomprehension Vocebulery knowledge dsectly impacts on readingcomprehension sills end is considered as the foundational knowledge of readingcomprehension (Mertin Chang & Gould, 2008) Poor vocabulery command and

1

lack of knowledge ebout the lexical meanings make it impossible for readers tocomprehend thoroughly what «textis ebout A deep understanding of vocabulary

‘will help improve seading comprehension results Mertin-Chang end Gould (2008)sffirm thet vocebuley is anindispensable part of reading comprehension, assistingesmnersin decoding end profoundly grasping the text Murphy end Unthieh (2015)posit theta leck of vocabulary knowledge affects the success of learners’ seadingcomprehension skills Vocebulery is central to reading, leemners will heveéfficulty understanding tert if they lack frequently used vocabulary (Cochsad et

al, 2010) Besides speaking skills, waiting is elso a visual form of expressingIenguage Vorsbulary knowledge impacts leamers’ writing ability and quality(6, Milton, 2013; Perk, 2012, Stebx, 2008) In wsiting leamers must ase precisevocebulary to express ideas or opinions and follow an appropriate struct Inaccordance with Farced et al (2016), leamners are influenced by many factors indeveloping writing sills, especially grammer, synter, and vocabulary Researchconducted by Anistasya 2022) once agein confirms which vocabulary isthe factorthet causes the most difficulty end affects leamers’ wsiting ebility It is obvious tosecognize the vite role of vocebulery in language leasing, along with phonetics,end grammer, those are factors promoting the ability to improve four basiclenguage skills listening, speaking reading, and writing —in general end English

1 The system of legal terminology differs in cach country’s legel system;for example, Isvs belonging to Common Law traditions have distinctcharacteristics from Civil Law traditions,

2 Discourses in legal seminers and legel documents are needed to explainend teach the vocebulery used in specialized legal documents by people withintensive expertise in the legal field,

3 Legel English also borrows from general English a lerge munber ofvocebulery words with unfamilier mesnings, causing difficulties in teeching andlesening, such as action, which hes the meaning of litigation and proceedings

4, The use of Archaic and foreign words/Maxims borrowing from Frenchend_etin driginis common inlegal writing making them afesture of legel Englishvooebuley

Moreover, prepositional phrases, phrasal verbs in « quasi-technical sense,and synonyms are also important features to pay attention to when teaching andlesrning legal English

Legal English is known as legalese the English lenguage used by Inwyers,judges, and in legal documents thet is difficult for ordinary people to understand(Mellinkoff, 2004) Inthe er8 of globalisetion, legal Englishis an area emphasisingthe important necessity when Vietnam pastcipetesin global economic integration

‘There ere meny studies in the field of teaching and learning concerning the deepinsight into legel English Shiurat and Gastsunova (2021) research the legalEnglish difficulties end ways to overcome the obstacles, They conclude thet thepoor lexical ability can cause many cifficuitiesin comprehendinglegel documentsBreeze (2015) researches vocabulary teaching in legel documents, pasticulasly @sorpus.diven approach, end confirms thet vocabulary used in legal documents isggammadicdly complex and contains many archaic words Vocabulary could bemore technicel, causing difficulties for the laymen In Vietnam, resesrch on thechellenges of lesrning legel English is still quite new There have been mumber

of studkes on the chellenges faced by students majoring in legal English such asthe study done by Nhac (2022) She points out the common difficultiesencountered by legal English major students and a study on difficulties in legal

3

English reading comprehension of Englishmajored at Hanoi Lew Uaiversty(HLU) Besides, she does another seseerch on challenges in learning legel Englishfrom students’ perspectives at HLU (Nhac, 2021) These studies indicate thet theobstacles thet students confront are differences in the characteristics of legalEnglish end a lack of knowledge about legel systems Most difficulties arepossibly dus to insufficient vorsbulary in specialized English with many differentfeatures, such os the difference in meaning of vocabulary between specielizedEnglish and general English Nevertheless st is hard to find research edévessingthe dificulties in leetning legal English vocabulary.

Recognizingthe difficulty when Tesrning ESP, especielly the importance ofmastering legal English vocabulary, the reseercher decided to conduct this studywith K45 and K46 legal English major students at Faculty of Legel ForeignLanguages at the HLU The study sims to help students understand the difficultywhen leaning legal English, and propose vocabulary leering stretegies so thatstudents can prepare eppropriete fundamental knowledge end asstionel orientationfor leacning legel English Furthermore, this study can contribute to improving thefield of English vocabulary teaching end leerning, especielly the enhancement ofstudents’ legal English vocabulary

2 Aims and objectives of the study

2.1 Aims of the study

‘The study exemining the difficulties in leaming legal English vocabularyend proposed strategies to improve leeming legal English vocebulary is catrisd out

‘with the following sims

~ To discover the difficulties in leasning legel English vocabulary of legal

English major students at Henoi Law University

~ To propose strategies for improving legel English vocabulary, particularly

in increasing legal English major students’ vocabulary at Hanoi Law University

2.2 Objectives ofthe study

~ To conduct e swvey using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews

to determine the difficulties and strategies in learning legel English vocabulary formost English major students

~ To analyse primary deta to compere which dfficultiesimpact on students’

learning of legal English vocabulary, thereby proposing effective vocebularylearning strategies for legal English major students

3 Research questions

Overall, the study sought to identify the chellenges faced by legal Englishsejor students et Hanoi Law University when studying legel English in order toprovide & foundetion for suggesting some efficient learning strategies for legalEnglish vocabulary

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions

1 What are the difficulties in leaning legel English vocebulery that legalEnglish major students at Henoi Law University face?

2 What are the strategies for legel English students to use to improve in

‘heir Legal English vocebulary?

4, Scope of the study

‘The study surveyed 166 legal English students at K45 and K46 to find outthe difficulties in leauning legal English vocabulary and propose some strategies

to improve the legal English vocebulary of legal English major students

5 Significance of the study

‘The findings would provide some implications and useful references forenguage teachers, researchers, students, end anyone interested in legal Englishlenguage leerning and teaching to increase the effectiveness of acquiting legalEnglish vocebulayy The research outcomes would be served as resourcefulseference for school administrators to modify their curricula to fit the needs of the

existing legal English issues with school leavers to come up with the high demand

of cwrent working requiem ents

6, Methodology

To investigate the difficulties faced by legal English students in leesningleggl English vocabulary, the study used œ mixedmethods approach Theresearcher created @ quasionasire to elicit informstion ebout respondents’attitudes toward chellenges they might face while leeming legal Englishvoosbulery, and semi-structured interviews to survey the vocebulary learingstrategies that students use, to be able to suggest effective strategies for leeringegal English vocabulary These methods were usetto exploit the deta In order tokaw responsible conclusions end present some suggestions for more successful1egal English teaching endlearning paticularly leaming legal English vocabulary,the deta would be properly collected and analysed

7 Structure of the study

‘The study includes 3 Parts mainly organize as follows:

‘The fsst part, Introduction, consists of research’ srationele, aims researchquestions, scope, methodology, and the importance ofthe study are put forward,

‘The second past, Development, is subdivided into the following cetegories:Chapter 1, Literature Review specifies the theoretical background, as wellesselated sesearch concetning difficulties in leerning legal English vocebulery andproposed stretegies for improving legel English vocebulary of legal English majorstudents &t HLU

Chapter 2 Methodology provides details ofthe data collection instruments,dete collection procedures, and deta anelysis procedures — conducted at HLU

Chapter 3 Remults and Discussion illustrate the detailed results of thesuvey, specifically saslysing students’ difficulties when learning legal Englishvocsbulsry and exemining some strategies to improve legal English majorstudents’ leemning of legal English vocebulery st HLU

‘The lest pert, Conclusion, summarizes the study's result and identifieslimitations to the research,

PART Il, DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW

‘This chapter reviews the theory related to the eres of difficulties in leerninglegal English vocabulary and provides vocabulary leaming strategies sharedworldwide The knowledge accumuleted would be used to formulate the

‘theoretical framework for the research

LL The overview of vocabulary

LLL Definition

Vocsbulary it an inseparable part when Leeming « new language, itisessential for both teaching and studying «foreign Language It means that whenptople lee 4 new langusge, itis very important for them to understand thevocsbulary ofits lnguage, Vocabulary is thua defined in many diferent ways

According to the Cambridge Dictionary definition’, the term “vocabulary”

refers to all the words in a specific languags or being used by « particular person

Vocabulary as defined by Oxford Dictionary? is what an individoel knows or

frequently uses or the vocabulary range of« specific author, group, book,

Uz C013) asserts that vocabulary canbe defined asthe words we are tight

‘when leering «foreign language Furthermore, she also asserts that vocabulary isnot just single word, for erample, we have the wards "post ofice” and "mother-inlaw, "which ae made up of many different items, with "post ofice” being twoitems and “nother in-law” being thee items, but it sill only expresses onemeaning, As «result, we must follow tht convention in way these vocabularytems ate generated using items rather than words

The words we need to know to communicate successfully are ourvocebulary (Neuman & Dwye, 2005) In other terms, vocebulary is the totesmmber of words which compose « language and tha: meanings in a particularlengags, vocabulry plays an essential role inthe communication process Ta theopinion of Richards and Schmidt (2013), the lowest meaning cerying wnt inthe

mm esgic

‘hv csíorispurstrtizvervscosldd sul eo

linguistic system is called a vocebulery, and it is distinguished from otherequivalent units, A vocebulary is on sbstract unit appearing in many differentforms in spoken end written language; all its veretions are considered one word —desivative

Vocabulary is the most essential component of lenguege proficiency, itprovides people with basic informstion ebout how language learners listen, speak,read, and write, With « deep commend of vocabulay, leemers will echieveenguage comprehension and proficiency in language use Henes, it can be

‘understood thet learsiers need en in-depth understanding of vocebulery to echievethe desired results when taking up elenguage Actually, the purpose of vocebulery

is to serve the process of communicating end acquiting knowledge from manyferent sources eround the world

Vocabulary is at the center of second language (L2) aequistion with thefunction of expressing lerical mesnings More specificelly, communication in L2can fully take place only if making a mesningful conversation In simple words,vocsbulary containsm any different elements of knowledge, which requie leemnesstouse different aspects of vocabulary such es word meaning, the forms of spokenend written language, grammer of words, collocetions, phrases of words, wordcombinations, end frequency of use of words Therefore, lexical enrichment is @process thet takes time for students to eccumulete, Iesmn through derivations andutilize Lexical items in the appropriate context because it isthe key to students’grasp of what leamers heer, seed, wits, end how leaners interact with others(Gdeins, 2013)

Inferring from such claims, it is briefly commented that vocabulary is «collection of the fundamental language componénts which hes œ form orexpression through other aspects such as the meaning of words, the use of words,end the form of words

a Productive vocabulary

Productive vocabulary is alist of vocebulary a person cen use in speakingend writing That is, they are words thet with high frequency and populasity of

wsage

'b Receptive or recognition vocabulary

Receptive or secognition vocabulary isa list of words thet individuals can

‘understand when listening end reading, however, these words are less commonlyused When encountering thesé vocebulery words, individuals can understand andsecognize only some aspects of the meenings of the words

Another way of classifying vocabulary is from Hemmer (2007), whoclassifies vocebulary into two types as follows

a Active vocebulery

Active vocabulary is thought to be frequently used in speech and waiting

In simple terms, learners prioritize active vocabulary to produce sentences andcommunicate with others by thet vocabulary

'b Passive vocebulery

Passive vocabulary includes the words stored in verbal memory thetstudents cen understend in @ text or in speech, and these are words that learners

‘useless often in speaking end writing forms

Normally, passive Vocebulary is a more massive quantity then activevvocebulary in any language, even in English netive speakers

LL3 The aspects of vocabulary

‘There are several aspects related to vocabulary thet we must pay attention

to when teaching end leaning vorsbulmy As claimed by Grain and Redman(1986), they believe thet it is necessary to concentrate on the following aspectsboundaies between conceptual meening polysemy, homonymy, synonymy,affective meaning differentisting between the attitudinal and emotional espects(đenotelion and connotation), style, register, dialect, translation, grammar ofvocsbulery end promucistion Ur (2012) assets thet some components needteaching and leerning carefully ere form (promunciation and spelling), grammer,

collocetion, aspect of meening (denotetion, connotetion, appropriateness) aspect

of mesning (meaning seletionship), end word formation

Nation (1990) developed œ theoretical femework for vocabularyknowledge In particuler, Nation recognizes the necessity to determine vocabularycnsichment from many aspects receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge

Ít meens thet when teeching vocebulay, we need to pay attention to form(promucistion end spelling), meaning of words (structure or mesning of words,ideas and preferences, combifation of words), anid usage (synlar, collocetion,constrints in use)

As statetlin Vu (2022), there ate three crucial aspects thet teechers shouldfocus on when teaching vocebulery, ie, the form of words, the meamang of wordsand word wage Among them, the word structure is expressed through thecombination of form (prommcistion end spelling of the word) and say partsappénded to e root word (prefixes and suffixes), the meaning of the word isconteined in the form of a word, usage (grammer function of word phrases, andphrases accompanying the soot word) Understanding three aspects helps not onlyteachers improve pedagogical practices but also students quickly pick up andimprove their vocabulary

In this case, the researcher merely concentrates on discussing espectscdrectly related to the scope of research mentioned previously

4 Form of vocabulary

1) Spoken end waitten form

In spoken and written lenguage, leamers are expected to take into account

cf whet the word sounds and how itis pronounced Thet means it concentretes onstudents’ ability to recognize end reproduce vorebulary in speech Leamers mustknow the sound of the word or its pronunciation and what itlooks like or how itisspelled because these are the understandable characteristics influencing learners?perception of leemning anew word

2) Word pasts

In this pert, lenmers focalize the process of analysing root wards Inperticules, lamers try to realize which pasts ere secognizeble in a word endwhich

pests are needed to express the word's meaning Besides, as caim sở by Ur 2012),this processis somehow called word formetion, referring the stituation ofthe root

‘word asthe center and desiving different prefixes or siffixes to reste anew word

b Meening of the word

1) Form end meaning

Inthisismue, leemnersneed to concentrate on whet mesning the word's formsepresents end what the word's form is used to express meaning Grain andRedman (1986) adévess that when teaching vocabulary, there are many beriers toavword’s meaning ich es synonyms end polysemy words Understanding themeaning of words is denoted through form and context, one of the most effective

‘ways toleain and teach vocabulary

2) Concepts andseferences

Leamers need to answer the question [What is meluded in the concepts?What items can the concept of this word refer to? Learners may encounter'obadaries between conceptuel meanings in English when learning e new word

‘That means knowing not only whet the meaning of this vocabulary word refers16,

‘but also knowing where the boundaries distinguish that word from seleted words,such as cup, mug bowl

3) Associstions

Understending sssociation components mean cognizing thet other wordscanseplace this word and the associetion with different wards Thus, by absorbingsassocistions, leemers cen entich their vocabulary by using synonyms, avoidingsepetition or Leck of vocabulary in speaking end waiting However, it is advisablefor teachers to distinguish between different shapes of meaning so that leannsrscan use those connotations in the eppropriete contexts

e Use of word

1) Grammer of vocabulary

‘The grammer of e new item will be essential in leering vocabulary if thisrule is not leerned in the general grammer rules bacause some items may bechenged in form in a specific grammatical context For instance, when leemning «new verb, we need to have knowledge of the form of the wordin different tenses,

ul

such as the past form of the tense, knowing if it dots not follow the isregulasity(teach taught) In the vein of leering a noun, itis essential for leamess to knowwhether the form of the word is singular or plural, endif it is plural, it can beisxeguler foot feet)

2) Collocations

‘The awsngement and combination of items constitute one of the factorslesmners have to remember to use in specific cases For example, make adecision not do adecision, or do the shopping not take the shopping, eventinoughthe words do and make are two similar words’ meanings Collocetions are oftenotedin dictionsries to provide teachers end leerners with information inthe form

ef notes,

3) Constraints on use

Interms of vocabulary, leamersneed to pay atention tothe style of use, theregistration of words, dielect, end frequency of use of words The is leamers canistinguish between the different levels of formality of words, the effects offerences behween contexts and topics, and use differences in geographicalversity to understend end use words most properly for different cases of word

‘usage

12 The overview of legal English

12.1 Legal English vocabulary aud its characteristic

Legel English is considered e subsystem of the English language used bylnwyers and other lege professionals (Supsrdi, 2013) Language is the means ofcommunicstion for people working the legal field, end legal tems are expressedthrough legal lenguage (Veretina, 2012) As mentioned by Veretina (2012), forthose who work in the legel eld or have en interés in this field understandingthe characteristics of legel English is e step in the process of enhencing lesmningffciency Yet, legal English chffers from general English because it containsmany unusual feahwes related to terminology, linguistic conventions, and

‘punctustion (Mykdhailove, 2014)

In compliance with the research purpose mentioned earlier, the ceseercherwill present characteristics directly selated to Legal English vocabulary

a Using foreign words/Mexims borrowed from Latin or French roots

‘Throughout the history of formation end development, legel English has

‘been strongly influenced by Letin and French Norman-French wes adopted asEnglend’s official language following the Normen invasion in 1066Consequently, it became the language of legal procedure; there are many legalEnglish terms of Anglo-Norman origin, item such as property, estate, leaseexecutor, tenant goods, will, moder, right, witness What is more, the influence

of French can also be shown through the use of adjectives behind nouns - an

‘unusual usage in general English such es plaintiff cout material, solicitorgeneral, plea These words are sill widely used today in legal waiting end legeldocuments

From 1066, Letin was also used in records and statutes Nevertheless, itisnot used in proceedings and debstes, Hence, French continues to be used in mostlegal proceedings Despite this, the influence of Latin in legal documents cen still

‘be described through the number of words and phrases such es ullta vires, bona

‘fide, vice versa negligent inferior, legal, end subscribe Until now, some Latinplarases ere still used to replace wordsiphrasesin English, such esinter aliainstead

of among other things

th, Use of Archaic expression

Axchaic words ere understood as expressions or uses of old words, and thesewords are used in English to evoid repeating words in the style of legel writing

We can see a list of words in the legal English language like herein hereby,hereafter, thereto, thereon therefor, therein thereafter whereby, whereinwhereof These words are used to replace something that has appeared before.For instance, thereto means “to that place or to that matter or document”, so wecan.useitlike this: The article is attached thereto (to this contract/ doctament)

¢ Circumlocution

Circumlocution is @ word combination originsting from the Letin circumand logui in order to denote the meaning of taking around a way of speaking Inother words, the legal English vocabulary will use many words to describe onlyone or a few words in ordinary English Ituses words with equivalent meanings to

13

express one or several ideas in mode English, namely adequate mơnber ofinstead of enough, chaing such time as instead of while, im close proximity foinstead of neon,

4 Use of unfamiliar pro-forms

Legel English uses many modifiers such as the same, the said thecforementioned the aforesaid they often use adjectives to determine nownswithout replecing them, g, the said Robert Young

+ Use of reciprocal words

Legel English conteins much vocabulary that besa title meaning Tt has ateciprocel and oppositional relationship end is indicated by endingr -et, se, coi,for example, in the Iebor relationship employer-employee, or in the civilrelationship grantor-grantee,

£ Use of pluasal verbs in a technical sense

Vocebulary in legal language is ticky because it uses several technicalpliases thatthe average individual needs to familiesize themselves with Theselexical items are often ordinary words but have special meanings in legal English,Take the following words for example, the English term consideration usuallydescribes the practice of keeping atopic in mind cared thought reflection, mã

meditation (Oxford English Dictionary’) Nonetheless, in legal English,

specificlly contract low, itis defined as the legal term ted when something is

legally sufcient and makes a contract binding (Black Law Dictionssy) Some

other examples of legal English phrases are put down deposit go into liquidation,write off debts,prasumt to

g Use of synonymy in lege team

Sinee French and Latin have e strong influence, the mumber of synonyms

in the legel English vocabulary is affluent It truly indicates that much vocabularywill coexist to refer to a lege term, for descriptive purposes: assign - trangfer

"Iupevhmr od oul rc litimary cope Burs egmconsidrtion

ˆ hạrJRhulendttgwoy ong

breach - violation contract - agreement stahite - provision default - faihse

comict - sentence

bh Use of technical toms

Use specific jergonto present ideas among those studying researching and

‘working in the legal field sather than using other ordinary vocabulary to explaini.e, case atinstance, cause of action, assimption of irnocence,

i, The use of doublets and triplets conveys # legal concept

Because of the impact of French and Latin,-most vocebulery in legalEnglish combines pairs of words from different lenguages: breaking and enteringGnglisFrencly, fit and proper GEnglishFrenct), will and testament(EnglistvLetin), end some English-only doublets such as let and landvance, haveand hold some triplets such es "judge, jury and executioner," and "give, desirecand bequeath”,

12.2 The importance of legal Euglish vocabulary

Legel English vocebulary is crucial in economic exchenge end globalintegration Legel vocabulary is used to draft documents releted to lew, such ascontracts, Hcenses, indictments, judgments, laws of the Netional Assembly,đeeress, regulations, end internetional treaties Legel English vocabulary is vital

in & country where the official language is English (V eretine, 2012) because itsJews, codes, end regulations ere waitten in English Therefore, it hes importantimplications when applying end enforcing laws in legal documents end drafting

‘written documents

Legal English vocebulery is essential to individuals interested in and

‘workingin te legel field Legal English vocebulary is exect and specific, llowingpeople who use or work in the legal field to communicate clsrly and correctly.Legal terminology helps convey legel concepts, sights, obligations, end proceduresaccurately, which ensures no ambiguity or misunderstanding in legal documents,contracts, or discussions

In modem life, there are many cases where we can encounter legalproblems For example, signing labor contracts, house lease contracts, resolvingcivil disputes, end court decisions, these documents often contain complex legal

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vocsbulary Mastering legal English vocabulary allows people to process legalinformation effectively

Furthermore, legal English vocabulary faclitetes effective communication

‘between legel professionals and clients in the legal field Especially ininternational cooperation, due to the current increase in the need for intemationalintegration, many businesses, especilly international businesses and multinationalcompanies need to employ workers with proficiency in legel English Legalprofessionals must possess # solid legel English voesbulary to communicate andcollaborste with colleagues, clients, or partners from different lenguege

‘backgrounds

Ta short, legal English vocabulary is essential for effective communication,accurate understanding of legal documents, and conducting legel studies andseseatch Mastering legal terminology allows legel English leerners to understandthe complexity of legal terms, improve career opportunities, end cooperets withinternational partners

13 The overview of vocabulary learning strategies

13.1 Vocabulary learning strategy

Vocabulary leatning strategies (VLS) include any activities, strategies,concepts, or processes thet lesmers use to support their understanding, memory,end use of language (O'Malley & Chamot, 1990) In other words, ectvities andprocesses thet help improve the vocabulary of a languag: and use vocabularycorsectly are celled vocabulary learning strategies

‘As opined by Catalán (2003), VLS ere developed from language learningstrategies She believes thet the processes and the strategies students use to learnnew words or the processes they take to research e word's definition beforesecording it in memory to be celled upon when necessary and epplied to speaking

or writing Cameron (2001) defines VLS es ections that students use to aid inunderstanding and memory of language Thus, vocabulary achievement requiresthe application of strategies from language teachers to lesmners (Sadighi &Zesafshen, 2006), Leeeness will use VLS to improve lenguage leemning and usesnow words leerned easily and quickly (Thụ, 2022)

Gu (1994) end Schmitt (1997) apply the knowlsdg© of language Leemingstrategies to VLS, and they argue thet language leerners need to understand VLS

to be able to improve the emount of vocabulary they leam as well as theirvocebulery comprehension Knowledge about VLS should be designed in theeducetional cwsiculum end syilebus to help leemners ensich their vocabulary Asspecified by Nation (1990), the most effective way to lestm vocabulary is forleseners to have « separate vocebulary leeming strategy VLS must be proposed aspect of 8 vorebulary development educational program

Addétionslly, Sener (2003) asserts that vocabulary 48 central to languageend hes e crutiel position for language leermers Language leatners know theimportencé of vocabulary but may not be evare of VLS which will sncotxage themfully to acquire it Along with the meaning of vocabulary, leshers are advised tosecognize pronunciation, spelling, part of speech, and other aspects of vocabulary

In sunmary, vocsbulary lesrning strategy isthe entire process of acquutingend comprehending vocebulary, remembering end using vocabulary effectively inthe communication process, It includes aay activity that involves leaming andmenorizing different aspects of vocabulary

13.2 Clarifying Schmit?’s vocabulary learning strategies

Many sesearchers have made clessificstions of vocabulary lsmmingstrategies Typically, Gu and Johnson (1996), Hedge (2000) are based on theclassificetion crested by Oxford (1990), and Netion (1990)

Schmitt's (1997) clessificetion system is considered the mostcomprehensive system, covesing the majority of vocebulery leeming (AL-Shuysxekh, 2001) In this study, the researcher presents the system of VLSclassified by Schmitt (1997) which is used es @ theoretical framework forproposing VLS for English mejor students

Schmitt's (1997) taxonomy system of VLS is divided into discovery andconsolidation strategies Discovery strategies are stetegies used tolleam about themecnings of vocebulary thet leemers see for the first time, while consolidationstrategies se applied to help leamess better understand the memnings ofvoesbulary and use them when they face later

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Tn particular, discovery strategies ave consisted of two typesdetermination strategies and social stretegies

a Determination strategies

‘The detesminetion strategies work based on identifying information aboutvarious constituents related to the vocabulary, namely pest of speech, desivetions,clues about prefixes, suffices, and lists of related words (Bahforoue & AL-Gheiti,2022), The determination strategies are often applied when students canindependently figure out # few word without the teacher's assistence Thedetermination stretegy enables learners to understend the context of the word andthe dictionary meaning of thet word

b Social strategies

Social strategies are used in explosing vocabulary by asking for help fromotherindividusls within the leamer’s society Vocebulery in L? is given so thet theteacher can provide the meaning of words in the leemer’s mother tongue (L1) toenhance leemness’ understanding ofits meaning The teacher expleins the word andcreetes sentences with the new word These things help leemers guess the meaning

of words and remember thet new word,

A popular form is guessing words based on context it happsns whenleseners use known wordsin a sentence to guess the meaning of words they do notmow Despite thet, this strategy requires leemners to have @ cestsin amount ofvocebulary to guess meaning through context

In this strategy, teachers and classmates tek part in explaining end usingnow words so thet students can comprehend the words’ meanings

‘The second type of vocabulary leaming strategy is consolidation strategies,which comprises of memory strategies, cognitive strategies, and metecognitive

strategies

a Memory strategies

Memory strategies are an approach seleted to recalling and memorizingvocebulary by using materials available to the leeener, such as images New wordsare combined with images representing the word's meaning to aid students in

lesening new words with images instead of definitions and ti the new words tospecific personal experiences

‘Ac such, these new words can be linked to other words, such as synonyms,entonyms, phrases, keywords, end formal features, derivatives parts of speech thatstudents already know Altemetively, the learners cen use the form of grouping

‘words for convenience in memorization These words cen be grouped into theirtopic or function

Studying « word's affixes, roots, end word types is also helpful inremembering the word'smeaning Leeming wordsin a collocation or idiom is alsoaway to remember

+ Metacognitive strategies

‘This strategy is used to either evaluste and test vocabulary lesrning or bespplied in eny stage of vocabulary learning Students can use English multimediasuch as books, radio, postcards, end movies to test the new words they learn13.3, The importance of vocabulary learning strategies

Many studies (¢.g, Abduimelik, 2020; Abmed, 2017; RaBkotna, 2021)have been conducted to increase leemners’ understanding of vocebulery leemningstrategies and their impact on the vocabulary comprshension process since itisvitel to have & strategy for learning new words Inthe opinion of Oxford (1990),vocebulery leeners should be encouraged to employ vocebuluy lesingtechniques while picking up new language stills This author articulates thetknowing more ebout VLS enables language leerners to be mare proactive in theircerning activities and inspire them to take esponsibility for their learning workBenson (2007) points out thet teaching strategies vocabulary cen develop learners!bilities in EFL/ESL Nation (1990) believes thet epplying vocebulary Leeming

19

strategies is critical to develope languag: competence, Similasly, Schmitt andSchmitt C008) affirm thet VLS are essentil for language teaching end learning,

‘Tihs, understending end epplying VLS is one of the most effective waysto enrichvocebulery VLS promote learners to optimize their leasing process by providingadequate sills to continue ecquising new words end setaining them in long-termnenGry, making their leerning more effective

14, Previous studieson difficulties and proposed strategies in learning legalEnglish vocabulary

Aforementioned, many studies have been done to discover the difficulty inlesrning vocabulary and suggest some common stretegies Typically, the study ofRohamatiléh (2014) was conducted on students of the Depertnent of EnglishEducetion at Institut Agema Islam Negeri (LAIN) Research shows thet theGfficulties students encounter when learning vocabulary ere quite diverse, Themost common difficulties thet lesners face are (1) most students have difficulty

‘with prommeiation, (2) spelling end pronunciation (3) the different grammeticelforms of each word are one of the causes of difficulty (4) choosing the eppropristemeaning of the word, (5) using words must apply to the context, (6) students faceconsiderable challenges when learning sbout idiomatic This study also shows thatseveral factors create baniers when lesrning vocebulery are: (1) the difference

‘between the wnitten and spoken forms of words, (2) the mount of vocabulary tobbe laamedie enormous, 3) the constraints on the source of word information, (4)complexity of vocabulsry knowledge, causing (5) lack of understanding ofvocebulery grammer, (6) mispromuncistion due to lack of similasity between LÍendL2

Another study happening to students of BA English majors et UniversityLevel of Education when leerning vocabulary by Afzel (2019) reveals how topronounce new words, understend the meaning of vocabulary, remember and usenew words correctly, and how to spell new words are problems thet studentsencounter, Research by Susento (2021) indicstes similar problems in students’vocebulary comprehension, especially in pronunciation, using the correct form ofwords in spesking and waiting end variants of a word cause difficulty in

‘identifying vocabulery, end challenges in choosing vocabulary appropriate to the

context

Understending the difficulties end challenges of learning vocebulery,Negodevithena and Premersthne (2022) use Schmitt's taxonomy vocebuleryearning stategies Research results disclose thet students initite Ienguege1esuning by converting meeningsin their mother tongue (L1), which influences theeffectiveness of leaming reading skills end the goel of language proficiency Noorend Amir (2009) affirm that VLS such as using @ dictionary, recognizing theneaning of words through seeding, and memory strategies sĩ? commonly used bystudentsin leerningESL In addition, students seek edetional information throughlinguistics to improve their vocabulary The least used vocabulery lessningstrategy is note-taking strategies

Inthe teaching and leering area, legel English is considered a past of ESP,

‘thas the seme characteristics as other types of ESP (Surpardl, 2013) All the same,legal English as e language used by lawyers, judges, end people studying andsesearching in the legel field, sill has its unique characteristics (Gibbons, 2014),

Many studies have been organized on legel English teaching in countieswhere Englishis not the officiel language Asressarch on the Sheltered InstructionObservation Protocol (SIOP) teaching model shows, this model is adequate fornon-netive leamers of legal English (Kereva & Bytydj, 2022) A study on theimportance of four English competencies: spesking reading writing, endlistening

to design English for legal purposes curiculum et Tikit College ofLaw/University was conducted by Hamid end Sulten (2022), this investigationpoints out four influential sills for lesrning legal English Northcott and Brown(2006) state thet there are somie obstacles in teaching and learning legal English(LB), thetis, (1) LE hasits own unique characteristics, deeply influenced by ethics,philosophy, history, religion, end even the cultural nation, (2) lack of equivalence

‘between legal system, (3) the difference between LE and plain English, (4) lackCELE teaching materials or resources, (5) Leck of teaching guides for LE teachers,making students who đo not have « background in law end legal terminology face

&fficulties in researching this field

bì

InVietnam, the study of legel English is areletively new field because legalEnglish is only introduced as « supplementary course et the Judicial Acedemy forpeople who already have legel knowledge In Vietnem, tro professional legalEnglish training units, HLU end ULAW, have severel research seminrs onstudents’ obstacles when leeming legel English

‘Vu and Tran (2023) research factors that reduce motivation to Jeasn legalEnglish at HLU, pointing out infrestructure-releted factors and universityifaculty-seleted factors icectly affecting demotiveting students’ leaning The research on

&fficulties in Learning legel English et HLU by Nhac (2021) highlights that the

‘unique features of LE, oifferences between legal systems, and lec of backgroundknowledge sbout lev are the main seasons leaming legel English becomes

<éfficult Thus, with its unique feature, learning legel English or learning legeEnglish vocebulery isan obstacle for students

Itis obvious thet there are some studies on the situstion of leatning legalEnglish of Vietnamese leerners However, the difficulties in lsarninglegal Englishvvorebulary, especially for legal English mejor students, still need more studies to

“in the research gap in comparison with other fields of language acquisition

<&fficulties in leasninglegel English and VLS for enhancing students’ legel Englishocabulary

Following this chapter, the researcher clarifies these focel issues thet needtobe discussed by presenting e method of researching difficultiesin acquitinglegalEnglish vocebulary to propose vocebulary leeming strategies approprietely.

21 Research design

A cross-sectional eveminstion of 166 representative legel English studentsengolled in K4S and K46 courses at Hanoi Lew University was the main goal ofthe m sở methods research Although the study population consisted of roughly

242 legal English students at Hanoi Lew University, due to time end resourcelimstations, the researcher was unable to interview every student, so a sample of

151 respondents using « simple sampling formule (Slovin’s formula) was chosen

‘The active Google form link was used to implement the questionneie, which wasemailed to the participants’ adévesses over the course of three weeks The semi-structured interviews with the 15 student participants were performed over thephone with their consent being recorded to only transcribe the responses for thisstudy Then, two dete souwees were addressed using the IBM SPSS v25pplication for the questionnaire end the NVivo v12 IT application for theinterview recordings The validity ofthe research findings wes strengthened by theresearcher's use of the remults from two sources

2.2 Research Question Restated

To orient the study, the following questions should be clasified in order tospecify the difficulties in learning legel English vocabulary and proposedvocebulary leemning strategies

1 What are the difficulties in learning legel English vocabularythat legal English majors at Hanoi Law University face?

2 What are the strategies for legal English major students to use

to improve ckfficulties their legal English vocabulary?

2.3, Participants

‘The participants were chosen from two courses, namely K45 with 114 legalEnglish major students, and K46 with 128 In order to select the samples from theIerge population, the researcher utilized the random sampling technique formule

to estimate sampling size by adopting Slovin’s formula with e= 5% to choote theequivalent samples from each course

24, Research instruments

‘The researcher devioped the survey questionnaire by adopting difficulties

in leaning LE of the study of Nhạc (2022) end VLS taxonomy classified bySchmitt (1997), the survey questionnsire based on a closed five-point Likert scale

‘The survey questionneire includes two questions asking about difficulties in1esrninglegel English vocebulery of legel English major students and the students!strategies for leerning legel English vocabulary The first survey questionneisesincluded 13 statements on five-point Likert scele The perticipantswere expected

to point out (1) strongly disagree, 2) disagree, (3) neutral, (4) agree, and (5)

5

strongly agree For the second suvey questionneire, they have five groups with 40statements equilly divided into these strategies: determinetion, social, memory,cognitive, and melacognitive strategies Pasticipants were anticipated to provide(1) almost never used strategy, (@) rarely used strategy, @) sometimes usedstrategy, (4) frequently used strategy, and (5) always used strategy For the semi-structured interviews, they consisted of 10 questions for student interviewsInternally created questionnaires were then sent out for content confirmatin toprofessionals in legel English language instruction and legel practitioners Afterthet, the questionnsire implemented œ dry run among 21 students, and thequestionnaires were properly adjusted to enswe the survey's validity Thesesearcher retained the statements according to the confidence level range (a=

077 ~ 096; Cronbach, 1951) The final swvey ineluded two mxveyquestionnaires The first questionnaire consists of 13 items, the secondquestionnaire includes 8 daterminstion strategies, 8 social strategies, 8 memorystrategies, 8 cognitive strategies, and § metacognitive strategies For semi-structured interviews with students, 5 interview questions for students werechosen Finelly, the final versions were once more handed back to the experts forseview end libility validation

25, Procedures of data collection

‘The researcher crested an email with an ective lik to a Google Form andsent it to the participant's email acévesses after gathering the necessary researchinstruments and obteining permission to cemry outthe study The questionnaire alsoconteined the researchet’s instructions, defined the study's goals end significance,goaranteed participants’ enonymity, end provided a withdrawal option Therespondents were requested to setun the questionnsire within three weeks ofreceiving the researcher's email A phone mumber wes also offered concurrently

in case exespondent had eny questions On the phone for roughly 15 minutes, thosewho ageed to participate in the semi-structured interviews expressed theiravailability The researcher jointly implemented the data screening proceduse toachieve the target sample size after choosing two sources forthe study instrument

‘using a snowball sampling technique within the time frame, The required data wasthen processed by the epplicetions NVivo v.12 for the interview recordings andIBM SPSS v.25 for the questionneire

2.6 Data analysis,

Descriptive statistics were used to gether, tabulete, enelyze, end interpretthe date Frequency count and percentage were employed particledy to addressthe responder profile The mesns and stendard deviations of each term can beinterpreted es follows: strongly disagree/elmost never used strategy (1.0 - 1.80),

&saggee/seldom used strategy (1 81 - 2.60), neutral/sometimes used strategy (2.61

- 3.40), agreeltrequently used strategy (3.41 - 420), and strongly agres/etweys

used strategy (421 - 5.0) were determined based on Likert scale The frequency ofthe respondents’ perspectives in the semi-structured interviews wes examinedusing the NVivo v.12 tool to assess the reliability of the qualitative data

27 Summary

The research design, research questions, date collection instrument,paticipents’ profiles, data collection procedures, and data analysis ae alldescribed in this chapter It is obvious thet a questionnaire is a miteble tool forgithering date for a quantitative investigation For the purpose of treatm ent, datagrthered exploiting the IBM SPSS application V 25 and NVivo 12 cen be used instatistical tools

CHAPTER 3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this chepter, the dete collected through dete enalysis procedures of thequestionnaire survey are demonstrated end discussed Simulteneously, the findings

‘were exemined thoroughly andl compered with the previous studies to have sich,complicated, mult-dim ensional ideas

3.1 Demographic information of the respondents

Table 1 presents demographic information sbout the participants whoesponded to the research questions Regerding gender, most pasticipants arefemale students, with 127 students, equivalent to 76.5%, the remaining 39 are malestudents, accounting for 23.59, Regerding the residence, amajosity of pasticipantscome from wan eréas with 117 students, equivalent to 70.5%, next is the suralcrea with 45 students, same as27 1%; finally, 4 students ere from the mountainouscreas, equivalent to2 4% Intenms of the ability toleemn legel English, 101 studentssupposed that their sbility to lesen legal English was at an average level with608%, the munber of students studying legal English at « good level is 4,constituting 24.7%, with two levels: very good end poor, the rates are (7

se 5.496) and n = 6, equivalent to 3.6%), respectively Regarding the period ofleening English, 10] students have been leasning English for under 15 yeers (just

as 60.8%), 50 students have been studying English for fewer than 10 years(equivalent to 30.196), end 15 students have been lsarning English for fewer then

20 years

Table 1 Profiles of the respondents involving in the study

Demographic information N Frequency Percent

Mele 39 335 Gender 166

Female 127 765

Residence Urban areas 166 17 705

Rural areas 45 371

Mounteinous areas 4 24

Very good 9 54

Team legal English 166

3.2 The analysis of the difficulties in learning legal English vocabulary

‘Table 2 indicetes legal English major students’ difficulties when leseninglegal English vocebulary Respondents strongly agree thet learning archaic words

in legal texts causes challenges in memorizing and using thet vocabulary, with ameen value of 456 end SD of 584%, Participants genuinly sate thet non-equivalent tems in the Vietnamese legal system significently impactunderstending end leaming vocebulary with the descriptive value as M= 4.49; SD

= 501%, Not suprisingly, when leerning legal English vocebulary, the use ofwords borrowed from foreign languages, especially French and Latin, possiblyleads to ehigh evel of influence (M= 4.47; SD= 514%) The following wo rankswith seletively high agreement among students thet cause difficulty when leesningvocebulery are the use of synonyms in lege terminology (IM= 439; SD = 622%)end using reciprocal words (M = 431; SD = 518%), these two items altogether

39