Terauchi, Hajime (1996) English for academic purposes in Japan : an investigation of language attitudes and language needs in a Department of Law. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the development of English courses in a Department of
Law in Japan. It presents a case for the introduction of courses in English for
Academic Purposes. It begins with a description of the setting for the present
research, which consists of the historical development of legal education in Japan
(chapter 1) and a study of Japanese approaches to English language teaching (chapter
2). This is followed by a survey of previous work into the language of the law and the
teaching of legal English (chapters 3 and 4). Chapter 5 considers the needs of
students who are required to read legal textbooks in English and reports on an
investigation into the lexis of these textbooks. The analysis (using computational
concordancing methods) demonstrates that the needs of undergraduates are not
covered by existing wordlists or by proposed standards that would ignore the special
needs of law students. A list of essential lexis is proposed, and the collocations of
frequent legal terms are identified, thus providing a list of common legal phrases that
could be valuable as a teaching resource. Chapter 6 reports on a questionnaire survey
into the attitudes of students, law teachers and English teachers to the existing courses
and to possible innovations. This reveals that many students and some teachers would
welcome changes but that there are conflicting of attitudes and resistance to change by
some staff members. Chapter 7 draws on the findings of the lexical research and the
attitude survey to suggest the introduction of a more varied English curriculum that
should be acceptable to teachers and students and that includes courses relating to the
language of the law. Proposals are also made for staff development. Chapter 8
provides a short postscript with suggestions for further research.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	K Law [LC] > K Law (General) P Language and Literature > PE English
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Japanese speakers, Law -- Language, Law -- Study and teaching -- Japan
Official Date:	November 1996
Dates:	Date Event November 1996 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for English Language Teacher Education
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Bloor, Meriel, 1934-
Extent:	2 v. (ix, 285; 125 leaves)
Language:	eng

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