Navigating complexity in plain English: A longitudinal analysis of syntactic and lexical complexity development in L2 legal writing

IF 5 1区文学 Q1 LINGUISTICS Journal of Second Language Writing Pub Date : 2023-11-18 DOI:10.1016/j.jslw.2023.101059

Yiran Xu , J. Elliott Casal

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Abstract

Since the 1960s, legal writing pedagogy in the United States has been heavily influenced by the plain English movement, which largely discourages the use of legal jargon and overly complex syntactic structures in legal documents. While these efforts to democratize legal English are laudable, it is unclear whether plain English practices can accommodate the needs of multilingual, foreign legal writers who have not yet acculturated to the U.S. legal discourse. Using mixed-effects modeling, this study tracks the development of syntactic and lexical complexity in 246 hypothetical legal essays written by 31 international Master of Laws students enrolled in a year-long legal language course. Results show that after one year of instruction, students demonstrated a significant increase in the use of nominalizations and sophisticated vocabulary. However, their sentences became notably shorter, and there was a marked decrease in the use of noun phrases with pre-modifying adjective within semesters. We discuss the intersection between plain English and academic writing practices and their impact on second language (L2) writers’ developmental trajectories. We also highlight important caveats to consider when implementing plain English pedagogy in legal language classrooms.

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在普通英语中导航复杂性:第二语言法律写作中句法和词汇复杂性发展的纵向分析

自20世纪60年代以来，美国的法律写作教学受到了简明英语运动的严重影响，该运动在很大程度上不鼓励在法律文件中使用法律术语和过于复杂的句法结构。虽然这些使法律英语民主化的努力值得称赞，但尚不清楚的是，简明英语的实践是否能满足尚未适应美国法律话语的多语种外国法律作家的需求。利用混合效应模型，本研究追踪了31名参加为期一年的法律语言课程的国际法律硕士学生所写的246篇假设法律论文的句法和词汇复杂性的发展。结果表明，经过一年的教学，学生在使用名词化和复杂词汇方面表现出显著的增加。然而，他们的句子明显变短了，并且在学期内使用带有形容词前置修饰的名词短语的次数明显减少了。我们讨论了普通英语和学术写作实践之间的交集，以及它们对第二语言作家发展轨迹的影响。我们还强调了在法律语言课堂中实施简明英语教学法时需要考虑的重要注意事项。

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来源期刊

Journal of Second Language Writing LINGUISTICS-

CiteScore

8.80

自引率

13.10%

发文量

审稿时长

59 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Second Language Writing is devoted to publishing theoretically grounded reports of research and discussions that represent a significant contribution to current understandings of central issues in second and foreign language writing and writing instruction. Some areas of interest are personal characteristics and attitudes of L2 writers, L2 writers'' composing processes, features of L2 writers'' texts, readers'' responses to L2 writing, assessment/evaluation of L2 writing, contexts (cultural, social, political, institutional) for L2 writing, and any other topic clearly relevant to L2 writing theory, research, or instruction.