Khóa luận tốt nghiệp: Reading strategies employed by Hanoi Law University English-majored students in comprehending legal English texts

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAININGHANOI LAW UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI VAN ANH 453234 READING STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS IN COMPR

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THI VAN ANH

453234

READING STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY HANOI

LAW UNIVERSITY ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS IN COMPREHENDING LEGAL

ENGLISH TEXTS

GRADUATION THESIS

Hanoi — 2023

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THỊ VAN ANH

453234

READING STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY HANOI LAWUNIVERSITY ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS IN

COMPREHENDING LEGAL ENGLISH TEXTS

CHIEN LƯỢC ĐỌC SINH VIÊN NGÀNH NGON NGU ANH

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC LUẬT HÀ NỘI SỬ DUNG DE ĐỌC HIỂU VAN

BẢN TIENG ANH PHÁP LÝ

Major: Legal English

GRADUATION THESIS

SupervisorNhac Thanh Huong, MA

Hanoi - 2023

STUDENT DECLARATIONThereby state that I: NGUYEN THỊ VAN ANH - ID 453234 being a candidateJor the degree of Bachelor of Arts accept the requirements of the Universityrelating to the retention and use of the Bachelor's Graduation Paper deposited

in the library

Jn terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited inthe library should be accessible for the purposes of shidy and research, inaccordance with the normal conaitions established by the librarian for the care,loan or reproduction of the paper

rey a rs) res}Supervisor's confirmation Researcher's signature

Nhac Thanh Huong MA Nguyen Thi Van Anh

A comprehensive study would not carried out without any assistance, mygraduation thesis is not an exception Throughout the process of conducting thegraduation thesis, I was provided with a substantial amount of aid, guidance,and encouragement from my teachers, family members, and companions

First and foremost, I would like to extend my utmost gratitude andappreciation to my supervisor, Ms Nhac Thanh Huong, for her invaluableguidance, courteous assistance, and encouragement The thesis would not havebeen satisfactorily completed without her constant monitoring and thoughtful

advice.

Secondly, my gratitude extends to my friends, classmates, and majored students at Hanoi Law University who have wholeheartedlyencouraged and supported me with all of their abilities I am particularlygrateful to all participants for their significant contributions to the datacollection for my research Moreover, my sincere thanks also go to theremainder of my thesis committee for their encouragement, insightfulcomments, and thought-provoking inquiries

English-Last but not least, I would like to would prefer to sincerely thank my familyand close fnend It is unattainable to express enough gratitude towards myparents, who gave me the encouragement I needed throughout this process To

my friend, this would have been a considerably more challenging task withouttheir presence Thank them all for their unwavering support and for reminding

me to keep moving forward

ABSTRACTVarious nations promulgate and implement diverse kinds of legal texts

to govern all activities, thus, it is recommended for law students or legalpractitioners to obtain proficiency in legal English, which is an exclusivedomain of the English language pertaining to legal fields Additionally, it isundeniable that reading is one of the important skills in legal Englishacquisition This study examined reading strategies employed by English-majored students to comprehend legal English texts In order to accomplish theaim, the research utilized a mixed-method approach with the participation of

84 legal English major students who are in the courses K45 at Hanoi LawUniversity The findings indicated that students with good reading proficiencyreported significantly greater use of reading strategies compared to those witheither average or poor reading proficiency, both overall and within specificcategories At the level of individual strategies, a total of 20 out of the 35reading strategies examined exhibited significant vanations in relation to thestudents' levels of reading proficiency Furthermore, students with differentlevels of proficiency demonstrated distinct inclinations in the utilization ofindividual reading strategies Such findings are expected to be advantageous toschool administrators, lectures of legal English, students and anyone who isconcemed about the capability of using legal English at work

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TABLE OF CONTENTSSTUDENT DECLARATION

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS isisssisisscssssssrsnassssstsansseiasssnnsarsnsisaananstanannstieed

LIST OF FIGURES/ TABLEG sssssssssssssssessessesssdnessnssscsnesenssscsscessesezses Vili

PART I NTRODUCTION si se 6, hhhhe

1 Rationale for the study

2 Aims ofthest0Uy 2 ¬ 3Research qUEstf0nS.G566 5/677 0 ớt ccio 6, ME cease c0:

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5 Significance of the study - - cọ sen 21.1 ree

6 Organization Of the SIM, eseeosssa Mie tad sệPART II DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW ::ssscssssssseesseessersnecsseseneeesneeenes1.1 English for Special Purposes(ESP) co.-

12.1 Definition of Legal Engiish § tế i

1.2.2 Features ofiegal English

TED2 AT TONIC 1:1 GS TA

10122.2 Syntactic features

1.3 Reading Strategies for ESP learners co

1.3.1 Definition of Reading Strate Gis o ccecssssosnsescssstesntesessensennsees

1.3.2 Classifications of Reading Comprehension Strategies

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1.4 Previous studies on reading comprehension strategies of EAP/ESP

1.5 Summary

CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY eecsccssssssssssnesssssnecessstesssnseesssecessnseessne 182:1.Pariidpan lo ssn LD3:3: ReseafchdnstrDDMenlsố 7 c ee oa ee LB

2 2 1xzGhesiiônndiresSS SG c ả i sao eee ees LS

332 FGI VI CW res eee cs s ieea Noppectnaeeniine 2D2.3 Procedures of data collecHon

2.3.1 Data fiom qHesfiOiriđires 22522-555sscseesr=r-resse v 2E

2552 DL FROMU EOI VIA SSSS0) c ổ: MMe SOL3:4 Data anllWsis eect ranean tecisiticccistiwstasietssstcutewetetenceedeictn dt 2D

CHAPTER 3 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS - 24

3.1 Demographic information of the respondents

3.1.1 The English-mnajored students’ fequency ofreading legal English

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3.1.2 The perspective of students regarding the necessity of reading legalBNBIISh Materials: 6x22 See eS ees ES NOS 353.2 Reading strategies employed by participanfs 263.2.1 The most and the least frequently used sfralegies 36

3.2.2 Variations in the frequency of overall reading strategy empioyed by

TC ÔN HGÌN boonssnssosgzngnigtiis030170001004857898g800010.431004gE035:ggG0:g01ug0ai8g503a80.g6gãcicusscol OO3.2.3 Variations in frequency of students’ strategy use in the categories 303.3 Variations in the frequency of students’ individual strategy use 3214: 0INNDEEV: se sseesonoooaosssas ere rent: | 3)

CHAPTER 4 RECOMMENDATIONS 37

4:1 Suggestions for studtnts.o7 2 taf Ae cast suse Daan 374.2 Suggestions for lecturers ¬ — #£4.3 Suggestions for the Faculty of Legal Foreign Languages 30

PART TEI CONGEHSION oc oooooiS bon 2 40

1 Summary of the main ñndings

4 Epp cath Onis Fire en eerste Oe on eeSensfeee-aas eD SE h 1U

3 Limitations and suggestions for further research 41

3 lÀ.LimiGNHOHS:O TRE SHIAN-c - -.:c:::ccccci cecooecoacE Go c.á4 41

3.2 SUB ZOSHOMS JOR TnnierisHiip ss  E , 41REFERENCES, cà con besseesittce-csonnscsesoses sand beeieengddecnantetocensasboeenserocnessl IAPPENDICES

APPENDIX I: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES - VIIIAPPENDIX II: IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW XIII

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EAP English for Academic Purposes

EBP English for business purposes

ELP English for legal purposes

ELT English language teaching

EMP English for medical purposes

EOP English for occupational purposesESCP : English for sociocultural purposes

ESP : English for Specific Purposes

EVP English for vocational purposes

GLOB : Global Reading Strategies

HLU : Hanoi Law University

L2 : Second language

POS : Post-reading strategies

PROB : Problem-solving Strategies

PRS : Pre-reading strategies

SUP : Support reading Strategies

WHS : While-reading strategies

LIST OF FIGURES/ TABLESList of figures:

Figure 1 The frequency of reading legal English tezt commun

Figure 2 The respondent’s viewpoint of the importance of: spccidiag se

EHBIISHREHÏS: sca ccssciaesise rere eater serine 35 een dd

Figure 3 Strategies used by reading levels Error! Bookmarknot

defined

List of tables:

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics of Likert scale data 22Table 2 Summary of the most frequently used strategies 1.26

Table 3 Summary of the least frequently used strategies P.28

Table 4 Variations in Frequency of Students’ Overall eating —— Use

29Table 5 Overall categories of reading strategies used among students at threelevel of English proñciency cccscsesecrrrerere-.e 3DTable 6 Variations in the frequency of students’ individual strategy use 32

PART I INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

Nowadays, reading is considered a primary approach in academiccontexts In other words, reading is regarded as one of the essential skills forleamers as it provides an avenue for communication, language acquisition, andinteraction Reading can also include several important aspects that worktogether to develop overall literacy As highlighted by Sheorey and Mokhtan(2001), one of the key means to augment students' comprehension levels isthrough the utilization of reading strategies Students who possess readingstrategies have their own ways of interpreting the meaning ofa text they haveread (Yapp, 2021) In the Self-Strategic Regulation (S2R) Model, readers areperceived as strategically selfregulated ones who approach challengingreading tasks and problems by choosing from a repertoire of strategies theybelieve are best compatible with the situation and purpose of their reading(Oxford, 2013)

In the age of integration and globalization, the ability to comprehendlegal documents or texts written in English, such as statutes, codes, precedents,

or contracts, is of great importance, especially among legal practitioners Inorder to grasp the content of the aforementioned reading materials, law students

or individuals specializing in law are advised to acquire legal English, whichis

a specific branch of English in legal fields, commonly used by legalprofessionals In Vietnam, the majority of legal education institutions haveacknowledged legal English asa core subject within their curriculum At HanoiLaw University (HLU), the study of legal English is an obligatory disciplinefor students pursuing majors in intemational trade and business law as well asfor those specializing in legal English Throughout the formal training,

especially in legal English, itis recognized that reading legal English texts with

appropriate strategies is of utmost importance for learners to effectively accessand interpret these types of legal materials

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In the literature, various studies have been conducted to explore reading

strategies in different contexts of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), such as

business (Chen, (2014), Rohaizat, (2021)), engineering (Nalliveettil (2014),

Surendran, (2023)), and medical ( Bitran et al., (2012), Shang, (2018)).However, it is hard to identify research conducted at HLU pertaining to thereading strategies employed by English-majored students when comprehendinglegal texts Recognizing the undeniable role of legal English reading skills as

well as the gaps that exist in both academic practice and previous research,

hence, the researcher decided to carry out this study to clarify different kinds

of reading strategies ESP learners tend to use in legal contexts, as well as toexamine the correlation between their self-assessment of reading proficiencyand the strategies they employ It is hoped that leamers will be able to enhancetheir performance in the domain ofreading comprehension, as well as cultivatethe ability to engage in lifelong learning

2 Aims of the study

The study is undertaken to examine the reading strategies utilized byEnglish-majored students in order to comprehend legal English texts.Furthermore, it seeks to investigate the correlation between reading proficiencyand the utilization of reading strategies among English majors studying at HLU

4 Scope of the study

The current study focuses on the strategies employed by majored students as well as the correlation between students’ self-evaluationreading proficiency with the strategies they use Therefore, the participantschosen are 90 random students from the legal English department of HLU fromcourse 45, whereas the teachers' strategy in teaching reading comprehension tostudents is beyond the scope of this study

English-5 Significance of the study

Compared with these preceding research papers, this study intenselyconcentrated on the reading strategies employed by English-majored students

at HLU to comprehend legal materials Furthermore, considerable emphasis ispaid to clarifying the relationship between students’ self-evaluation of theirreading proficiency with the strategies they use Additionally, this studycomprises both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, with thepurpose of examining and providing an in-depth analysis of the subject matter.Regarding the implementation of the results of the present study, instructors,students, materials developers, and lesson planners can benefit from them

6 Organization of the study

The study comprises three major parts: Introduction, Development, and

Conclusion

The Introduction includes the Rationale, Aims, Research questions,

Scope, Significance, and Organization of the study

The Development is segmented into four chapters as follows

Chapter 1: Literature Review lays out the theoretical background knowledgerelated to the explanation of legal English as well as the reading strategies forESP leamers

Chapter 2: Methodology sets out three main parts: participants, research

instruments, and research procedure.

Chapter 3: Results and Discussion indicates the analytical findings of the

survey

and meticulous interpretation of the data gathered.

Chapter 4: Recommendations offers several suggestions based on the key

findings of the study

The Conclusion provides a summary of the study, implications of the study,limitations and suggestions for further research

PART II.DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 1.LITERATURE REVIEW1.1 English for Special Purposes (ESP)

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) encompasses the educationalprocess of acquiring and comprehending English as a secondary or non-nativelanguage, with the intention of employing it within a specific field or contextIts primary objective is to address the speci fic needs of particular groups ofleamers pursuing specific professional competencies while enhancing theirproficiency in job-related tasks In the past, the teaching of ESP, during itsinitial stages, was primarily motivated by the necessity to communicate acrosslanguages in fields such as commerce and technology This has temporanlybroadened its scope to include other areas such as English for academicpurposes (EAP), English for occupational purposes (EOP), English forvocational purposes (EVP), English for medical purposes (EMP), English forbusiness purposes (EBP), English for legal purposes (ELP), and English forsociocultural purposes (ESCP) (Canarana et al., 2020) Hutchinson and Watersdefined ESP as a pedagogical approach in which all decisions about contentand method are based on the leamers’ reasons for learning (1987) Alvi et al(2021) asserted that ESP represents a focused and purposeful approach toinstructing the English language In addition, ESP isa movement that seeks toserve the language needs of leamers who require English proficiency tosuccessfully fulfill specific roles (e.g student layer, engineer, nurse, etc.)and who need to acquire content and real-world skills through the medium of

it rather than master the language for its own sake (Richards & Rodgers, 2001)Dudley-Evans and John (1998) undertook the definition of ESP by delineatingsome characteristics of ESP as follows: ESP caters to the specific purposes ofthe leamers, ESP exploits the fundamental methodology and activities of thediscipline in which it is implemented; ESP emphasizes that the language

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corresponds with these activities in terms of grammar, lexis, registration,

comprehension, discourse, and genre.

1.2 Legal English

1.2.1 Definition of Legal English

Legal English, also recognized as English for legal purposes (ELP), isabranch of ESP The term “legal English” refers to “English language education

to enable second language (L2) law professionals to operate in academic andprofessional contexts requiring the use of English” (Northcott, 2009, p.166).Because a significant portion of ESP has focused on the description andanalysis of the target language and language practices, the nature and properties

of legal language provide material for a substantial part of the legal Englishresearch agenda Legal English emphasizes specific types of communication in

a definite context; forinstance, there are words employed only ina legal contextthat laypersons would not use or understand Therefore, the examination oflegal language is approached as “a form of secondary language, encompassing

a specialized use of vocabulary, phrases, and syntax that helps us communicatemore easily with each other” (Ramsfield, 2005, p.145)

Legal English is also deemed to be the linguistic style employed bylawyers and other legal practitioners in the execution of their duties in nativeEnglish-speaking countries as well as intemationally It is often referred to as

“legalese” and is predominantly used in wnitten form, particularly in the context

of drafting legislation and the formulation of legal documents, as well as in thecourse of judicial proceedings (Branch, 2023) Some linguists have designated

legal English as a "sublanguage" of English employed to convey information

pertaining to legal affairs Legal English possesses similarities to, and yetdistinct characteristics from, standard English in various aspects, includingspecific terminologies and linguistic frameworks It is apparent that thepresence of language is a necessary condition for the existence of law

Language serves as a mechanism for formalizing legal statutes and regulations.

Moreover, legal principles and procedures can solely be accessed through the

utilization of language Mattila (2006, p.10) stated that “The legal language,

especially legal terminology, sometimes is almost a language museum, legalEnglish clearly demonstrates this”

1.2.2 Features of legal English

1.2.2.1 Lexical features

Archaisms: The first characteristic conceming lexical features refers tothe archaisms According to Hu & Lu, archaism is old English, and it is rare inmodem English daily but often appears in legal contracts (2017, p.279)Veretina-Chiniac (2012, p.53) stated that archaisms are typical examples oflegalisms and lawyerisms belonging to formal style and making the documentconcise and precise, but unfortunately, causing comprehension problems fornon-lawyers In terms of their structures and morphological features, Crystal &Davy (1969, p 207) explained that most of these archaic words, which havecome down from old English, take the form of adverbials to which someprepositions are affixed They provided an instance of archaic words such

as heretofore, therefiom, thereof hereinbefore, thereafter, hereinafter,whatsoever, etc Examples of archaisms given by Veretina-Chinac (2012,p.104) indicate that archaisms can function as parts of speech other thanadverbials: adverb (hereinafter), verb (deraign), noun (surrejoinder), andadjective (aforesaid) Primarily, old words are used in legal English context toavoid repeating names or phrases, for example, “the parties hereto” instead of

“the parties to this contract” (Mykhailova, Lecture 1) Moreover, adverbials

preceding the verbs they qualify foris also a prevalent form ofarchaism in legal

drafting For instance, it is common to have structures like “we hereby statethat ”, “the agreement is herein contained,” etc Although legal practitionershave a tendency to employ archaic words less frequently compared to other

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terminology, many old words can nonetheless be found in many legaldocuments (Veretina, 2012).

Technical terms: According to Hiltunen (1999), technical terms or terms

of art are pure legal terms A typical example is fort Some legal terms arefamiliar to laypersons (e.g., patent share, royalty), while others are only known

to lawyers (e.g., bailment, abatement) Apart from pure legal terms, there are

also common words with uncommon meanings, ¡.e., polysemous lexemes with

specific meanings within legal English, eg, “attachment action,

consideration, execute, party” (Rylance, 1994, p.36) Legal professionals usethese words as technical terms for their purposes in particular circumstancesThey have precise definitions in the domain of legal science, so they areidiosyncratic However, it is imperative to pay special attention when legalmeaning differs from the general meaning (e.g., consideration, redemption,

tender’) or when everyday words are used in apparently peculiar contexts (e.g,

Siwnish, prefer, hold)

On the other hand, technical terms are different from legal jargon; wordsare not precise enough to belong to legal jargon Jargon is a specializedlanguage that enables a professional group to communicate quickly andefficiently In this way, the intemal communication of lawyers is improved, yetthe meanings of terms become obscure for laypersons There are a number of

legal jargon, varying from slang or near-slang (orse case) to almost technically

precise terms (es ipsa loquitur) Nevertheless, the legal jargon has not attained

the level of professional, technical terms Other examples of the jargon areboilerpiate clauses, corporate veil, and bequests (Rylance, 1994)

Foreign words: Legal English encompasses a substantial quantity offoreign terms and phrases, with the preponderance denving from Latin andFrench origins Some of them have a peculiar appearance Foreign wordsoriginating from Latin or French were acquired either through transliteration or

direct borrowing The examples of native terms in legal English under theAnglo-Saxon period are bequeath guilt’ manslaughter, murder oath, sheriffswear, theft, ward writ, etc (Haigh, 2004, p 97) However, the quantity offoreign terms developed overwhelmingly Latin introduced the practice ofterms such as versus, pro se, in propria persona caveat emptor obiter dictum,Amicus Curiae, etc Examples of words of Latin origin are egligence adjacent,Frustrating, inferior, legal, quit subscribe, etc The influence of French isshown both in the words of French origin (e.g, appeal, claim complaint) and

in the use of the position ofadjectives which stands behind the nouns modified

in phrases (e.g, attorney general fee simple absolute, state auditor general)(Haigh, 2004)

Synonymy: The incorporation of synonyms is also prevalent within legalEnglish (Huong N T., 2022) Due to French and Latin influence, English

abounds in synonyms At least three lexical sources gave nse to a significant

number of synonyms existing side-by-side What complicates legal drafting isthe existence of several synonyms referring to the same legal concept, like inthe following examples produced by Haigh: Assign — transjer; Breach —violation; Clause — provision — paragraph — article: Contract — agreement;Defeuit — failure: Lessee — tenant; Promise — assurance — undertaking; Void —invalid — ineffective (Haigh, 2004) Furthermore, the most common synonym

pairs named binomials are doublets and triplets wath the conjunction “and.”

Doublets are two synonyms used together, while triplets are three synonymsused together Examples of doublets are act and deed, legal and valid, goodsand chattels, null and void; and examples of triplets are assign, transfer and setover; build, erect, or construct As in legal English, binominals are comprised

of two words with the same conceptual meaning; one of them is redundant and

does little to the meaning itself’ (Gamer, 1989)

1.2.2.2 Syntactic features

Sentence length: The length and complexity of sentences are LegalEnglish's most obvious syntactic features The phenomenon of a particularsentence structure arises from the historical reality that, in previous times, eachcomponent ofa legal texts was comprised solely ofa solitary sentence LegalEnglish consists of sentences including a great deal of information,repetitiveness, long noun phrases with plenty of modification, peculiar wordorder, prepositional phrases, as well as coordinate and subordinate clauses(Veretina, 2012) Asa result, lawyers are instructed to evaluate sentence length,eliminate extraneous words and sentences, and even delete superfluous wordsand phrases Only words that support the text's arguments add value to the

sentence.

Nominaiization 1s the favored approach in the realm of formal writing,and the practice of legal writing is certainly not an exception to this normNominalization denotes the process of transforming a grammatical declaration(frequently a verb phrase) into a noun phrase For example, fo giveconsideration instead of to consider, to be in contravention instead of tocontravene, to make an application rather than to apply Nominalization is amorphological process that should be avoided because it lengthens and makesthe text static However, eliminating nominalization can be hard becauselawyers do not say fo arbitrate but to go to arbitration because arbitration is alegally recognized procedure and should be regarded as such (Bhatia, 1993)

Jinpersonal styie: Another characteristic of legal English is theapplication of the passive voice and the third person singular Although thepassive voice is inherent in legal language, it is also overused in every aspect

of legal materials Legal drafters naturally imitate it, therefore, laws and courtdecisions generally incorporate a passive verb, especially when an obligation

or condition is imposed They provide the idea that such mules are foolproof

since they occur without the intervention of a human agent The exclusion ofthe first and second person singular is prompted by legal specialists’ efforts to

attain the maximum impartiality or to create the appearance that the law is

impartial As a result, the use of the third person singular and plural ispredominant (e.g everybody, nobody, and every person) However, to some

extent, such generalizations are vague and make it obscure to individuals who

do not specialize in law (Veratina, 2012)

1.3 Reading Strategies for ESP learners

1.3.1 Definition of Reading Strategies

According to C Brantmeier (2000), reading strategies are thecomprehension processes that readers use to understand what they read Inother words, reading strategies are conceptualized as conscious and deliberateactivities that readers take to help them acquire, store, retneve information, andconstruct meaning from the text (Yang, 2004) Carrell, Gajuusek, and Wise(1998) posited that strategies are employed purposefully to denote actions thereader selects and manages to accomplish predetermined objectives.McNamara (2007) provided a definition for reading strategies, characterizingthem as actions that, through continuous practice, efficient and effective ways

to help readers understand and remember much more from the text within ashorter duration Different authors have provided varying definitions forreading strategies, however, they collectively share the same viewpointregarding the charactenstics of reading strategies These are deliberate,conscious plans, techniques, and skills for enhancing reading comprehensionand surmounting comprehension failure They are interesting because theydeclare how readers regulate their interactions with written text and how thesetechniques correspond to the comprehension of said text (Carrell et al., 1989)

In this study, reading strategies can be conceptualized as the entirety ofconscious actions made by readers to comprehend and interpret the textual

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content in order to accomplish a reading task or goal, which can be

implemented in various ways, contingent upon the surrounding circumstances

and the individuals involved in the leaming process They are actions that occur

before, while, and after the reading process and will be made apparent whendiscussing the specific strategies related to reading

1.3.2 Classifications of Reading Comprehension Strategies

There are multiple approaches to categonzing reading strategies.

Anderson (1991) classified reading strategies into five categories: supervisingstrategies, support strategies, paraphrasing strategies, strategies for establishingcoherence in the text, and test-taking strategies Meanwhile, Jimenez, Garcia,and Pearson (1996) divided reading strategies into text-initiated, interactive,and reader-initiated strategies The Self-Strategic Regulation (S2R) model wasintroduced by Oxford (2013) as a different classification strategy for reading.The S2R model includes strategies of three majors, mutually reinforcingdimensions: Cognitive strategies, Affective strategies, and Sociocultural-interactive strategies A different classification of reading strategies wasproposed by Shih (1992) and Baker-Gonzalize and Blau (1995) when theysuggested three stages ofreading strategy use: before, while, and after reading

In the same way, Paris et al classified reading strategies into three categoriesbased on when they are used: before, during, and after reading (Paris et al.,1991; Young & Oxford, 1997) Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002) introduced adistinct classification systemand categorized reading strategies into three broadcategories: Global Reading Strategies (GLOB), Problem-solving Strategies(PROB), and Support reading Strategies (SUP) Adams (2008) identified thetypes of reading strategies as follows: skimming, scanning, making predictions,

and questioning.

Reading strategies have been classified in different ways by different

authors However, within the scope of the study, the classification of reading

strategies as adopted in Paris's research, namely pre-reading (PRS), reading (WHS) and post-reading (POS) is elaborated.

while-1.3.2.1 Pre-reading

The procedure of analyzing a text or illustrations before reading the text

is referred to as a pre-reading strategy The primary objective of pre-reading

was to enhance leamers' knowledge acquisition in order to optimize their

comprehension and extraction of information from the subsequent readingmaterial This was accomplished by posing pre-reading questions to encouragelearners to meditate and apply their pertinent background to the text, previewcrucial components, and figure out a reading purpose Pre-reading aids in theassimilation of new material that readers will encounter Readers requirereading strategies to assist them in accomplishing reading comprehension bygenerating a portion of their reading vocabulary and establishing a goal for

future reading.

1.3.2.2 While-reading

The while-reading approach is designed to help readers comprehend thewriter's purpose, style, and capacities, as well as to improve knowledge of textstructure, clarify text material, and identify the main idea While-readinginquines may support leamers in comprehending the particulars of the textualcontent The purpose of the while-reading was to facilitate leamers indeveloping their capacity to extract information from reading materials Thepurpose of the while-reading strategy was to assist leamers in establishingelicitation abilities from what they read Leamers had to employ bottom-upmethods to examine words, phrases, and sentences in texts to validate theirreading anticipation and comprehend the text's details

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1.3.2.3 Post-reading

After reading something, readers partake in the process They are

activities that aid readers in summarizing, contemplating, or questioning what

they have just read Activities performed after reading help in the development

of reading comprehension abilities as well as the expansion of vocabularyrange The purpose of post-reading was to assist leamers in developing theknowledge obtained from what they acquired It enabled leamers to review orsummarize what they had read in the text and incorporate the textualunderstanding into their personal experiences

1.4 Previous studies on reading comprehension strategies of EAP/ESPmaterials

There are several preceding research involve reading comprehensionstrategies of EAP/ESP materials, typically the following:

Firstly, a study into the topic “Jnvestigation of Academic ReadingStrategies among That Economics Students” was carried out by Prathomwat(2019) The aim of this investigation was to examine the approaches utilized

by university students from Thailand when engaging in academic reading Thestudy consisted ofa group of 140 Thai students who were enrolled in the faculty

of Economics at Kasetsart University, specifically the Sriracha Campus Allparticipants pursuing an economics degree were required to enroll in theTechnical English course, which was deemed mandatory and centers itscurriculum on enhancing academic reading skills In this study, the researcher

used the quantitative method to find out that participants employed affective

strategies most frequently, whereas social strategies were the least used.

Cognitive strategies were implemented the most when stratified by strategy,while social strategies were still used the least Furthermore, this study showedthat students think that summarizing is the most beneficial strategy, but reading

slowly with no focus was thought to be the least useful strategy.

The second relevant study was undertaken under the title “ ReadingStrategies used by Undergraduate Medical Students to Comprehend ScientificPublications” by Bitran (2014) This study investigated reading strategies used

by medical students with differing cultural and linguistic backgrounds enrolled

in the second year of a seven-year program at the Pontificia UniversidadCatolica de Chile medical school (PUC-MS) Forty-seven medical students,with an average age of 20+1 years, comprised of 26 females and 21 males, wereselected to participate in this study The specific objective of the study was to

identify the reading comprehension strategies used by medical students to

understand scientific biomedical publications and to study the relationshipamong self-reported proficiency After the analytical process, the researcherfigured out that students with limited proficiency in the English language face

a distinct disadvantage, irrespective of their level ofintelligence Students withthis kind ofacademic performance tend to achieve lower grades in courses thatrequire extensive reading of primary literature In addition, students whoexhibited English deficiency or lacked appropriate reading comprehensionskills were prone to encountering a bad initial experience that may undemminetheir interest in scientific research Reading publications, consequently, becameexhausting and unrewarding This could negatively impact their ability tobecome life-long learners and manage the pace necessary to master scientific

progress in their respective fields.

Another research related to the lectures’ perspective is “The ReadingStrategies Used by Iranian ESP Students to Comprehend Authentic Expository

Texts in English” by Shokrpourin (2012) This study sought to examine the

reading strategy employed by Iranian ESP students when they read authentic

expository texts in English A total of $1 participants from various majors at amedical science university were involved in this research, with their agesranging from 18 to 21 years old It is noteworthy that all the participants werenative Persian speakers and had been studying English for a duration of eight

15

years Furthermore, was carried out quantitatively, and the data were collected

by using a questionnaire and then analyzed by descriptive statistics and OneWay ANOVA The present study used the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS)

as its research instrument This particular survey categorized reading strategiesinto three distinct groups: global strategies, problem-solving strategies, andsupport strategies The results indicated that the participants possessed amoderate level of awareness regarding reading strategies Among the variousstrategies, support strategies were found to be the most commonly utilized,followed by global strategies and then problem-solving strategies Additionally,

it was observed that Iranian ESP students used the reading strategies differently

according to their academic majors.

Fourthly, the study was conducted by Razak and Amirin 2011 entitled

“A Study on Students’ Perception of Reading Strategies While Comprehending

an Academic Text by UIM Students’ The objective of this study was toascertain the understanding of reading strategies among first-year students atthe University Technology Malaysia, Skudai, as they comprehend academic

texts, as well as to examine the reading strategies employed by students with

varying levels of proficiency The participants in this study consist of first-yearstudents enrolled in the UHB 1412 (English for Academic Communication)course from different faculties at UTM for the 2008/2009 academic year,totaling 60 students This research was conducted in a qualitative manner,employing interviews and questionnaires as the primary sources for datacollection The findings of the study indicated that both high and low-proficient

students exhibited similar perceptions regarding their preference for utilizing

reading strategies Additionally, the investigation revealed that students

employed three distinct reading strategies - cognitive, metacognitive, and social

- when comprehending the texts they read However, the results demonstratedthat high-proficiency students utilized all three strategies proposed by the

researcher, whereas low-proficiency students predominantly relied on

metacogmitive reading strategies.

Apparently, it can be seen that the majority of studies investigated

reading strategies in different EAP/ESP contexts Nevertheless, it proves to be

challenging to identify the research investigating the reading strategies within

the legal context In addition, there was only a few research aiming at therelationship between reading strategy use and reading proficiency among third-year and fourth-year ESP students, who may have to adopt this skill in theirnear-future intemship and professional workplace Accordingly, this currentresearch is conducted to identify legal English-majored students’ strategies forreading legal materials at Hanoi Law University to fill the aforementionedstudies' gaps

1.5 Summary

To sum up, this chapter has provided a brief overview of key terms

related to the topic of the study, including legal English texts and reading

comprehension strategies, as well as previous studies on the reading strategiesemployed by ESP leamers in different contexts Such knowledge has laid thefoundation for investigating the crucial insights into legal English readingstrategies used by ESP learners in the context of Hanoi Law University,

Vietnam, in the following chapters.

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CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY2.1 Participants

Generally, the anticipated participants of the research were 90 year students selected from the Faculty of Legal Foreign Language of HanoiLaw University from course 45 Nevertheless, the survey gamered aparticipation rate of 84 individuals who actually participated withoverwhelmingly positive responses by means of Google Forms The firstlanguage of all participants is Vietnamese, and their foreign language isEnglish

fourth-Particularly, an explanation for selecting the target group is due to theappropriateness of their academic levels As fourth-year students havecompleted all modules of Legal English, namely Basic Legal English 1, BasicLegai English 2, Advanced Legal English I, Advanced Legal English 2, theirresponses on reading comprehension strategies used to comprehend legalreading materials will be a dependable information source for conducting thisresearch Additionally, through the implementation of the survey, these types

of participants are assumed to gain awareness and knowledge to improve theirreading skills not only in comprehending legal texts but also in their practically

to compose a more all-encompassing questionnaire An online survey

questionnaire via Google Form was employed for data collection, including 35

different statements plus assessment scales to clarify the participants’

perspectives on the reading comprehension strategies employed in the process

of comprehending legal texts (see Appendices ) In detail, a five-criteria Likertscale was used in the research, consisting of five descnption categories, namely(1) Strongly disagree, (2) Disagree, (3) Neutral, (4) Agree, and (5) Stronglyagree Furthermore, the strategy components were categorized into three

distinct groups, namely pre-reading strategies, while-reading Strategies, and

post-reading (POS) After that, the researcher executed a pilot study with thecooperation of 25 individuals who willingly participated, with the purpose ofevaluating the dependability of the survey The outcomes of the dummy run

‘were unacceptable, and thus, the researcher had to revise the questionnaire to

reach the acceptable Cronbach’s Alpha value (0.8 > ơ > 0.7)

This data-collecting method was chosen predicated upon its severalbenefits First of all, it is easier for researchers to clanfy and analyze thecollected data through the survey logically, as the conclusion for everyrespondent would be drawn up on the basis of average answers Additionally,the process of gathering answers from students can be more time-saving and

convenient via a survey questionnaire Last but not least, by means of

this method, the online questionnaire responses are automatically incorporated

into databases or other software packages, reducing the error of human mistakeand enabling automatic data verification

In contrast, this data collection instrument also has certain limitations.

The restriction conceming the accuracy of the responses is a notable

disadvantage of employing the questionnaire method The presentation of aworded question to respondents, rather than providing a full explanation inaface-to-face or telephone interaction, can lead to different interpretations or

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even skewed results of the same question Therefore, the answers, to some

extent, cannot be concluded in a complete way.

2.2.2 Interview

Gill (2008) stated that qualitative methodologies, such as interviews, arepostulated to yield a more profound comprehension of societal occurrencesthan what could be derived from exclusively quantitative methodologies, such

as questionnaires Interviews are, therefore, particularly suitable in cases wherethere is limited existing knowledge regarding the study phenomenon or whenin-depth understanding is needed from individual participants Understandingthe drawbacks of a survey questionnaire method, a semi-structured interviewwas conducted Within this kind of interview, specific core questionsestablished beforehand to allow the interviewer to delve into comprehensiveinformation

The purpose of the interviews, firstly, is to validate the collected data; inparticular, if the interview results match those obtained from the questionnaire,the dependability of the findings will be guaranteed Secondly, via theinterviews, students’ perceptions of reading comprehension strategies weredeeply analyzed as they could directly share their feelings, beliefs, andexperiences related to this particular matter

In this study, five questions related to different kinds of reading strategiesESP leamers tend to use in legal contexts as well as the correlation betweentheir self-assessment of their reading proficiency and the strategies they usewere posed to five interviewees (for detailed interview questions, seeAppendix 2)

2.3 Procedures of data collection

2.3.1 Data from questionnaires

Having prepared the questionnaires properly, the researcher contactedthe representatives of classes 4531 and 4532 of Faculty of Legal ForeignLanguage (K45) to ask for their agreement to participate in the survey andensure the clanty and authority of the research Students in such classesexpressed their consent to participate in the study The survey was carried out

from 3# October 2023 to 17" October 2023 by sending out a Google Form link

via Messenger messages to participants from the Faculty of Legal ForeignLanguage of Hanoi Law University The respondents were requested to fill andreturn the questionnaire in a two-week period, which is appropriate for them toconsider carefully before replying In the survey form, there was contactinformation of the researcher that participants are welcome to contact if theyhave any questions The data was then collected and coded for the data

treatment.

2.3.2 Data from interview

First of all, the list of interview questions was sent to the researchsupervisor to ensure that all the questions were concise, rational, critical, andeffective Then, the researcher contacted 10 students with noticeable answers

to confirm their agreement to take part in the interviews However, only 05 of

them agreed to participate.

Each interview took about 10 to 12 minutes via either Microsoft team orface-to-face meeting It should be noted that each interview was conducted inthe student's mother tongue (Vietnamese) to ensure the accuracy of eachanswer as well as create favorable conditions for these students to show theiropinions All the interviews were audio-recorded to ensure the authenticity ofthe answers The researcher started every interview by briefly informing thestudent of the purpose of this research and generally requested the interviewee

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to be sincere, truthful, and forthcoming throughout the whole process in orderfor optimal achievement To create an open atmosphere from the extemal

context, the researcher kept the degree of formality to the least to help the

interviewees feel comfortable throughout the interview

2.4 Data analysis

In the first place, the survey questionnaire's quantitative data underwentanalysis with the aid of SPSS software version 28.0.0 In particular, theapplication of frequency and descriptive statistics was utilized in order toascertain the reading aproaches utilized by senior English-majored in theircomprehension of legal English reading materials The item with the highestfrequency and percentage shows the most important and mandatory responses

to the research questions To ensure the data from the questionnaire survey beanalyzed accurately, the proportion of received - responses was calculatedthrough Microsoft Office Excel to demonstrate the respondents' viewpoints onthis research matter in form of bar charts and tables Furthermore, theresearcher implemented three primary approaches: Mean Range, and StandardDeviation (SD) The mean value of each item can be elucidated with LikertScales as follows:

QuantitativeLimits of Description Interpretation

1 1.0-1.79 Strongly disagree Very low

2 1.8 -2.59 Disagree Low

3 eutral

4 High

5 42-50 Strongly agree Very high

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics of Likert scale data

In the second place, the qualitative data of the in-depth intermew was

examined to support the researcher in interpreting and explaining the result

obtained from the questionnaire B efore commencing the analysis process, theaudio files of each interviewee were numbered from one to five so as to ensure

their anonymity and then transcribed in wnting Based on the interview

transcription, the researcher carried out a frequency analysis of the results toinvestigate the common tendency amongst participants’ answers to each

question

2.5 Summary

Throughout the chapter, the researcher has provided a complete

explanation of the research design, the data-gathering instruments, the samples

of the study, and the procedures for gathering and analyzing data, which helpsclarify the research methods and effortlessly find out the answers to thequestions of the study Besides, the results from the analysis of both datasets

from questionnaires and interviews were compared and interpreted to check

whether the results supported or contradicted each other The quantitative andqualitative results were described in the discussion