STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF BENEFITS OF METAPHOR IN LEGAL ENGLISH

ABSTRACT This case study reflects students’ perception of the benefits of metaphor in legal English.. Acknowledging this hindrance, my present work will explicitly introduce metaphorical

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF LAW

GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH

Major: Legal English

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF BENEFITS OF

METAPHOR IN LEGAL ENGLISH

Supervisor : M.A NHAM THANH LAP Student : BUI KHANH LINH

Student ID : 1652202010031

Ho Chi Minh City, 2020

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF LAW

GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH

Major: Legal English

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF BENEFITS OF

METAPHOR IN LEGAL ENGLISH

Supervisor : M.A NHAM THANH LAP Student : BUI KHANH LINH

Student ID : 1652202010031

Ho Chi Minh City, 2020

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to those persons who provided me with valuable advice and enthusiastic supports during the time

I worked on this thesis

I would like to express my genuine appreciation and grateful thanks to my supervisor, Mr Nham Thanh Lap, who gave me practical guidance, comforting words, and did take a chance on me, introducing me to this research area Under his supervision,

I become more independent, raised my sense of initiative, and developed my thinking

to a certain extent in the research project To my way of thinking, fortune smiled on me when I was supervised by Mr Lap, embracing his words of wisdom with a wealth of experience

I would like to express my sincere thanks towards all legal English and quality law majored students who enthusiastically participated in my study for their valuable feedback and comments Their true reflection on the past experience was valuable data for my study To those who took part in the interview, I owe them a great debt of gratitude

high-I owe special thanks to AnhEm for their generous support throughout this study

I owe my dearest friend - Nau, a favor for what she has been doing Her words

of encouragement really worked on me

Above all, I would like to thank the support and love of my family and friends and their constant source of inspiration

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

TABLE OF CONTENTS ii

LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS v

LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES vi

TÓM LƯỢC vii

ABSTRACT viii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale for the research study 1

1.2 Research aims 2

1.3 Significance of the study 2

1.4 Organization of the thesis 2

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 3

2.1 Metaphor 3

2.1.1 Definition 3

2.1.2 Classification 4

2.2 Metaphor in legal English and classification 7

2.2.1 Structural metaphors in legal English 9

2.2.2 Orientational metaphors in legal English 10

2.2.3 Ontological metaphors in legal English 11

2.3 Benefits of metaphor in legal English 13

2.3.1 Reactions 13

2.3.2 Understanding 14

2.3.3 Transformation and motivation 16

2.3.4 Applications 17

2.4 Relevant studies 19

2.4.1 Studies on metaphor in legal English 19

2.4.2 Significance of the present study 22

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 24

3.1 Research questions 24

3.2 Research design 24

3.3 Participants 24

3.3.1 Sampling 24

3.3.2 Legal English majored students 25

3.3.3 High-quality law majored students 26

3.4 Research instruments 26

3.4.1 Quiz 26

3.4.2 Questionnaire 26

3.4.3 Interviews 27

3.5 Data collection 27

3.5.1 Administering the questionnaire 27

3.5.2 Administering the interviews 27

3.6 Statistical method 28

3.7 Research procedure 28

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 29

4.1 Findings 29

4.1.1 Quiz results 29

4.1.2 Questionnaire results 29

4.1.3 Questionnaire analysis 30

4.2 Discussions 33

4.2.1 Perceptions on benefits of metaphor in legal English 33

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 38

5.1 Summary 38

5.2 Possible implications 38

For legal English major 38

For law major 39

For lecturers 39

5.3 Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research 40

Limitations 40

Recommendations 40

REFERENCES 42

APPENDICES 51

APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE 51

Questionnaire in English 51

Questionnaire in Vietnamese 55

APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 59

Interview questions for student participants in English 59

Interview questions for student participants in Vietnamese 60

APPENDIX 3: QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 61

LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS

LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES List of Tables

Table 3.1: The participants 25

Table 4.1: Participation of quiz takers 29

Table 4.2: Selection of questionnaire participants 30

Table 4.3: Level of agreement towards benefits of metaphor in legal English 30

Table 4.4: Level of agreement towards variables 31

Table 4.5: Mean score of each item in cluster Reaction 31

Table 4.6: Mean score of each item in cluster Understanding 32

Table 4.7: Mean score of each item in cluster Transformation 32

Table 4.8: Mean score of each item in cluster Application 32

Table 4.9: Level of agreement towards benefits of metaphor in legal English between two groups: high-quality law majored students and legal English students 32

List of Figures Figure 3.1: Research procedure 28

Figure 4.1: Level of students’ agreement among four clusters 31

TÓM LƯỢC

Nghiên cứu này là sự phản ánh nhận thức của sinh viên về lợi ích của ẩn dụ trong tiếng Anh pháp lý Nghiên cứu khảo sát ý kiến của sinh viên, dữ liệu cả định tính và định lượng được thu thập Dữ liệu định lượng được thu thập từ bảng câu hỏi phát cho 36 sinh viên của ba khoá liên tiếp đang học chương trình cử nhân Ngôn ngữ Anh – chuyên ngành tiếng Anh pháp lý và chương trình cử nhân chất lượng cao Luật Dữ liệu định tính được dùng để thu thập và phân tích ý kiến sinh viên Nhận thức của sinh viên được phân tích định lượng và định tính thông qua bốn yếu tố là phản ứng, hiểu biết, chuyển đổi nhận thức và ứng dụng Tuy nhiên, mỗi sinh viên nhận thức các yếu tố này ở các mức độ khác nhau Kết quả nghiên cứu cho thấy nhận thức tích cực của sinh viên chủ yếu vào hai yếu tố: phản ứng và chuyển đổi nhận thức Hầu hết sinh viên tham gia đều nhận thức được

ẩn dụ trở nên quan trọng hơn đối với tiếng Anh pháp lý Mặc dù một vài sinh viên Luật năm cuối cho rằng ẩn dụ trong tiếng Anh pháp lý còn tương đối mơ hồ Rõ ràng, mức

độ đồng ý thấp hơn đối với yếu tố hiểu biết và ứng dụng cũng được chú ý trong nghiên cứu này

ABSTRACT

This case study reflects students’ perception of the benefits of metaphor in legal English

In this quantitative and qualitative research study, data were firstly gathered through a questionnaire completed by 36 undergraduate students from three consecutive cohorts

of two majors: law and legal English Students’ perceptions disclosed from the quantitative and qualitative analyses are associated with reaction, understanding, transformation, and application However, each student perceives these elements in a varying extent A qualitative approach is used to collect and analyze student opinion The results show positive outcomes mostly in students’ reaction and transformation Most participants are aware that metaphor turns more significant in legal English Apart from positive responses of the majority, a number of senior law students claim that metaphor leaves them confusion in legal English Evidently, their lower levels of agreement towards understanding and application are also noticed in this paper

KEY WORDS: students’ perception, metaphor, legal English

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The current chapter contains four sections Starting off with the rationale, the chapter presents the research aims, succeeded by the significance of the research and the organization of the thesis in the last section

1.1 Rationale for the research study

The field of language and the law is inherently interdisciplinary, a close connection between law and language, both of which surround us in modern-day society1 (Filipović, 2013) In particular, the emergence of legal language deals with fixed terms having specific meanings, specialized text structures, formal language, and notably distinct lexicon2 (Mellinkoff, 1963) Also, many assume that the nature of the language of the law must be exclusively concrete and plain, leaving no place for rhetorical expressions However, there is range of applications of rhetorical device – metaphor which is quite prevalent and diversified as an important methodological tool

in legal language A glance at intensive studies in this field can reveal how common metaphor exists in legal English

As regards the curriculum of law-majored students and English-majored students in Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, students need to acquire legal language

in mother tongue and English as well To be more specific, their programs mainly offer subjects in English Language and Legal Linguistics namely Legal Reasoning and Methodology, Contract Law, Corporation Law, Comparative Law, Law of the Sea, WTO Law, Tort Law, US and EU Competition Law, Legal Translation and Interpretation, International Trade Terminology, to mention just a few Undoubtedly, legal English is considered as one of the most crucial parts of the programs as well as the most presumably necessary skill for all students to consider acquiring

Based on the context in the present study, students need to develop a heightened respect for linguistic precision and legal content also It is apparent that legal English

1 Filipović, L (2013) The Role of Language in Legal Contexts: A Forensic Cross-Linguistic Viewpoint In Law

and Language: Current Legal Issues Volume 15 Oxford University Press (Vol 15, pp 328) Retrieved May 17,

2020, from 9780199673667-chapter-19

https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199673667.001.0001/acprof-2 Mellinkoff, D (1963) The Language of the Law Boston & Toronto: Little, Brown and Company

abovementioned is so complicated and hard-to-understand For learners specifically, learning legal English is supposed to be challenging with merely terms which are conventionally theoretical and formuliac (Haigh, 2009; Eades, 2010; Richard, 2014; Bradae, 2013; Hyatt, n.d.) Acknowledging this hindrance, my present work will explicitly introduce metaphorical expressions in legal English and measure students’ perception of benefits of metaphors in respect of legal English

1.2 Research aims

The objective of this research is to determine the high-quality law and legal English majored students’ perception of benefits of metaphor in legal English

1.3 Significance of the study

A closer look to the literature, however, reveals that a scarcity of studies on students’ perception of benefits of metaphor in legal English In broader scenario, the current study aims to fill this gap, investigating how beneficial metaphor is in legal English from the perspective of learners

1.4 Organization of the thesis

The thesis consists of four chapter: (1) Introduction, (2) Literature review, (3) Methodology, (4) Findings and discussions, (5) Conclusion

Chapter 1 presents the rationale, the aims, the significance of the study, and the organization of the whole thesis

Chapter 2 reviews the relevant literature together with related studies, providing background knowledge and constructing the theoretical framework for the study into students’ perception of the benefits of metaphor in legal English Information on the previous studies related to students’ perception of metaphor’s benefits suggested in literature is presented for later comparison with research findings

Chapter 3 describes the research methodology in detail, comprising research questions, research design, research participants, research instruments, data collection and statistical method

Chapter 4 presents quantitative and qualitative data analyses, addressing the research questions and provides major findings and discussions on the findings

Chapter 5 provides a summary of findings Implications, limitations of the study, and recommendations for further studies are revealed

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

This present chapter provides a critical review of literature relevant to students’ perception of metaphor in legal English The chapter focuses extensively but not exclusively on (1) introduction to metaphor, (2) introduction to metaphor in legal English, (3) benefits of metaphor in learning legal English, and (4) related studies

2.1 Metaphor

2.1.1 Definition

Metaphor derives from the Greek word “metapherein”, in which “meta” means

“over” and “pherein” means “to bear” or “to carry”, and for this reason, metaphor means the carrying of meaning of one word to another word (Gentzler, 2000; Taverniers, 2002) Back to Aristotle’s treatises on Rhetoric and Poetics, metaphor was considered as a rhetorical device used as an ornament in literary works For a long time, metaphor was known as a figure of speech, as mentioned in the most definitions of metaphor

In recent decades, the idea of metaphor has got certain well-known recognition among largely diverse schools of thought (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980; Newmark, 1988; Black, 1993; Hurford, Heasley, & Smith, 2007) Noticeably, the paradigm of metaphor

study was the publication of Metaphors We Live By claiming that “our ordinary

conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature”3 (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p 3) By this way, metaphors are fundamental to the structuring of our thought and language, and is an ordinary activity

of thinking The cognitive theory of metaphor is served as a major breakthrough in the study of metaphor and perhaps one of the most influential works in turn-of-the-century linguistics Indeed, metaphors are conceptual operations reflected in human language that enable speakers to structure and construe abstract areas of knowledge and experience in more concrete experiential terms As the influence of metaphor is in every part of our everyday language pervasively, it is not only a matter of language, but also

a matter of thought and action (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980; Gibbs, 1994; Kövecses, 2010)

3 Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M (1980) Metaphors We Live By Chicago and London: The University of Chicago

Press, p 4

To illustrate how conceptual metaphor works, metaphor is a mapping of structure from a familiar area of knowledge, called the source domain, to conceptualise

an area of knowledge that is less familiar, the target or recipient domain The source of donor domain is kind of a concrete concept which is typically grasped through our ordinary experience within a vast background of the physical world around us The interaction between these two domains is established by anaglogical mappings, in which the relationship is described as “a set of systematic correspondences … [which] are often referred to as mappings”4 in order to structure the target domain in a more accessible way to human understanding (Kövecses, 2010, p 7) Evidently, in this framework, metaphor is no longer considered merely as an ornamental device that is restricted to literature and poetry Though most figurative language in form of frozen expressions have become conventional (Hurford et al., 2007), their metaphorical nature

is hardly ever recognized In other words, a general understanding of metaphor is an

“automatic” interpretation made by us (Glucksberg, 2008)

2.1.2 Classification

Having attemped to define what metaphor is, a question of the possibility of classification of metaphor may arise It seems to be various ways of classifyting metaphors With reference to that, the attention will be focused on the classification

pointed out by Kövecses (2010) in his book Metaphor: A Practical Introduction which

includes classifcation according to: the conventionality of metaphor, the nature of metaphor, the level of generality of metaphor, and the cognitive function of metaphor However, it is well-documented that the way of classification based on the cognitive function is much more prevailing (Kövecses, 2010; Li, 2010; Boers, 2011; Jumanca, 2012; Soloshenko, 2016) There are ample evidence in English of numerous structural metaphors, orientational metaphors, and ontological metaphors which are highly structural and rule-governed

Cognitive function of metaphor is all about how ordinary people are thinking about or seeing the world (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980; Kövecses, 2010) For a clearer exposition, division of conceptual metaphors can be shown according to the cognitive

4 Kovecses, Z (2010) Metaphor A practical Introduction, Second Edition New York: Oxford University Press,

p 38

functions On this foundation, Lakoff and Johnson (1980) distinguish three different types of conceptual metaphors, in order of specificity: structural, ontological, and orientational

Structural metaphors are abstract metaphorical systems in which the source

domain provides a relatively great deal of knowledge structure for the target concept In other words, multiple individual linguistic expressions are to enable speakers to evoke target A by means of conceptual mappings between target A and the structure of source

B Consider such expressions as follows: (1) Her point of view is indefensible (2) They attacked everything we said (3) I finally won/lost the argument (4) We demolished their argument (5) My strategy against their argument was weak (6) Our criticism of his claim was right on target.5 It suggests that such actions provide evidence that argument

is structured, understood, performed and talked about in the concept of war (Ibid, p 4)

In this case, without a physical attack, obviously we have a war of words through the words of war that we utilize Through these examples, Lakoff and Johnson explained that an abstract conceptual domain “argument” is understood through a specific conceptual domain of “war” Therefore, it not only explains why the particular expressions mean what they do but provide a basic overall structure as well “Without the metaphor it would be difficult to imagine what our concept of argument would be”6(Kövecses, 2010)

Orientational metaphors are the experience of basic spatial orientation such

as up – down, inside – outside, deep – shallow, front – back, and the like by associating

an abstract knowledge area with some aspect of experiential grounds English expressions such as the following seem to relate to the abstract subject of happiness with

being physically located UP position: (1) I’m feeling up today, (2) That movie boosted

my spirits, (3) Her spirits rose at the news These examples generally follow the same

principles: HAPPY IS UP derived from the body posture Normally, when they are happy, they raise up their head and straight up their back and when people are sad or depressed, they often droop, as can be seen from the conceptual metaphor SAD IS

5 Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M (1980) Metaphors We Live By Chicago and London, The University of Chicago

Press, p 4

6 Kovecses, Z (2010) Metaphor A practical Introduction, Second Edition New York: Oxford University Press,

p 38

DOWN7 (Nagy, 1974) Hence, we can see that the orientational metaphors are not erratic but based on different experiential and cultural backgrounds Lakoff and Johnson (1980) observe that our metaphorical understanding is not limited just how we understand happiness, but we comprehend many other abstract domains by using variations on the same spatial metaphors

Such a representation would emphasize that upward orientation goes together with positive evaluation, vice versa However, positive – negative expressions are not shown only in up – down orientation but varied in different cultures or experiential bases

Ontological metaphors provide a further foundation for our understanding of

abstract domain such as events, activities, emotions, ideas, etc., through our experience

of physical object and substances By this way, it allows us to identify parts of our experience and refer to them as concrete entities (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, p 25) As just mentioned, Kövecses (2010) believes that “… we conceive of our experiences in terms of objects, substances, and containers, in general, without specifying exactly what kind of object, substance, or container is meant”8 Lakoff and Johnson (1980) use INFLATION IS AN ENTITY to illustrate how this metaphor works They treat an intangible concept such as monetary inflation as if it were a tangible object, we typically use to talk about to comprehend the concept better Here are some expressions we have

in mind about inflation: (1) Inflation is lowering our standard of living, (2) Inflation is increasing every year, (3) The negative aspects of inflation far outweigh the positive ones, (4) Inflation is ruining our economy, (5) We have to fight inflation or it will conquer us

In these cases, the metaphor can be instantiated inflation in each sentence as though it were identified as a physical entity Lakoff and Johnson also note that we can use ontological metaphor for such enormous purposes: to refer, to quantify (2), to recognize a particular aspect of it (3), to see it as a cause (1,4), and motivate actions with respect to it (5), etc

7 Nagy, W (1974) Figurative Patterns and Redundancy in the Lexicon (Ph.D dissertation) San Diego: University

of California

8 Kovecses, Z (2010) Metaphor A practical Introduction (2nd ed.) New York: Oxford University Press, p 38

Regarding other interesting examples, (1) There were many runners in the race,

the race is construed as a container having in its participants which are considered as

objects (2) Did you see the race? The race in this example is construed as an object (3) The finish of the race was really exciting, the metaphor “finish” is construed as an event

emerging “within” the object “race” Thus, activities can be viewed as containers for

many actions and other activities (4) John and Mary are in love is another kind of

ontological metaphor where states may be also conceptualized as a bounded region of space

Lakoff (1980) and Kövecses (2010) conceive of personification as the most obvious form of ontological metaphor in which human characteristics are given to non-human entities It is prominently remained in literature, but also plentiful in everyday

discourse, as the examples show: (5) His theory explained to me the behavior of chickens raised in factories, (6) Life has cheated me, (7) Cancer finally caught up with him, (8) The computer went dead on me Literally speaking, such non-human entities as a theory, life, cancer or the computer is conceived as human entities making them more accessible

to comprehension.9

The fact that the way of classification of cognitive functions of metaphors on which we are based become widely used in the language In short, metaphorical understanding is usually based on our interaction with our bodily experience and social environment

2.2 Metaphor in legal English and classification

Lakoff and Johnson (1980) sketched an overall idea suggesting that metaphor

is absolutely universal in human communication The wide range of publications on the theory of conceptual metaphor all over the world, contributions have been made in, for example, teaching, learning and language (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999; Cameron & Low, 1999; Cameron, 2003), political, financial, economic, accounting discourses (Melissa, 1996; Boers, 1997; Henderson, 2000; Eubanks, 2000; Charteris-Black & Ennis, 2001), culture and society (Bratož, 2004; Goddard, 2004; Kövecses, 2005) Attempts have also been made into the investigation of rhetorical approaches of language of science (Kuhn, 1993;

9 Lakoff, G., and Johnson, M (1980) Metaphors We Live By Chicago and London, The University of Chicago

Press, p 33

Brown, 2003) Among the bulk metaphor studies exploded in legal field in the last decades, most have endorsed the powerful role that legal metaphors play in ehancing legal reasoning and individuals’ awareness of the nature of law (Henly, 1987; Alcaras

& Hughes, 2002; Tsai, 2004; Schane & Shuy, 2006; Smith, 2007; Winter, 2007; Berger, 2007; Johnson, 2007; Gražytė & Maskaliūnienė, 2017)

Ironically, relying on Tiersma’s (1998, p 128) statement “because of the seriousness of the topic [law], we can safely assume that humor, irony, figurative usage, and similar literary devices will be avoided” and there those who considered it

“unwelcome”, such as Judge Benjamin N Cardozo of the US Supreme Court said in Berkey v Third Avenue Railway Co 244 N.Y 602 in 1927 that “[m]etaphors in law are

to be narrowly watched, for stating as devices to liberate thought, they end often by enslaving it.”10

Having said that, for whatever reason, in the light of the undeniable presence of metaphorical language, many scholars claim that metaphor is a key methodological instrument in legal English research (Murray, 1984; Winter, 2008) which brings us to the issues of totally new approach to legal English As law is an abstract social phenomenon, it is rather the case that the need for metaphors is great Obviously, metaphors are no longer conceived as linguistic ornaments but as a new model for denoting legal concepts A better understanding of metaphor’s cognitive role assisting lawyers shape the law is studied by Berger (2004) and also, Morra (2010) sketched a possible cognitive approach to legal metaphors (Henly, 1987; Schane, 2006; Winter, 2007) To illustrate, this unveils the multifunction of metaphors crowding legal analysis and writing11 both in civil law systems and common law systems.12 Furthermore, recognizing metaphors as part of the language of the law, many researchers focused on specific branches of law and specific genres including intellectual property and copyright law (Loughlan, 2006; Larsson, 2011, 2013), company law (Twardzisz, 2013;

10 Berkey v.Third Avenue Railway (1926) 155 N.E 58, 61 New York

11 Smith noticed four basic types of metaphors existing in persuasive legal discourse: (1) the judicial principles governing an issue; (2) the tools of analysis used for reasoning through legal matters; (3) the writing style of an advocate who is presenting the legal argument; and (4) the inherent nature of language itself

Smith, M (2007) Levels of Metaphor in Persuasive Legal Writing, Mercer Law Review (Vol 58, No 3, pp 919–

947) Retrieved from http://www.law.mercer.edu/academics/lawre- view/lrarticle.cfm?lrarticleid=398

12 Metaphors play an essential role in normative texts in spite of different opinion about their pervasiveness: the vagueness allows legal systems to balance inclusiveness and precision

Wang & Tu, 2018), corporation law (Joo, 2002), administrative law (Noah, 2000), corporation law (Berger, 2007; Greenwood, 2005), contract law (Twardzisz, 2013; Lipshaw, 2012), constitutional law (Jackson, 2006), and criminal law (Duncan, 1995; Armstrong, 2009)

Classification

Metaphors appear to be ingrained in legal texts and so closely intertwined with the expression of legal concepts that the most fundamental of them are conveyed metaphorically To grasp this deeper role of metaphor, there are many different types of classification of metaphors in legal English In a case, metaphors are categorized into a tendency towards their representation arising from the experiences of vision, hearing, touch, matter, motion and other things in legal language: Latin legal metaphors, personifying metaphors, reifying metaphors, process metaphors and sensory metaphors including visual to aural, tactile, and orientational metaphors13 (Jumanca, 2012; Hibbitts, 1994) In general terms, the category of cognitive function has beome mainstream in this regard Therefore, metaphors in legal English will be categorized into three types: structural metaphor, orientational metaphor and ontological metaphor which are based on the cognitive paradigm (Winter, 2001; Berger, 2004; Jumanca, 2012; Richard, 2014; Gražytė & Maskaliūnienė, 2017)

2.2.1 Structural metaphors in legal English

The range of conceptual metaphors is illustrated by the following five selected examples belonging to the world of drugs extracted from a study.14

(1) DRUGS ARE WOMEN: “Aunt Nora”, “Blonde”, “Mother”, “Pink lady” (2) DRUGS ARE HAPPINESS: “Joy powder”, “Laughing weed”, “Happy pill”, “Giggle smoke”

(3) DRUGS ARE HIGH PLACES: “Perfect high”, “Airplane”, “Climb”,

“Cloud nine”.15

13 Jumanca, R (2012) Types of Metaphors in The English Legal Discourse Romanian Journal of English Studies

9 10.2478/v10319-012-0032-9

14 Torregrosa, G., & Sánchez-Reyes, S (2015) Raising Metaphor Awareness in English for Law Enforcement

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 212 304-308 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.377

15 Montagne, M (1988) The metaphorical nature of drugs and drug taking Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier,

Vol 26 (4), p 417-424

The link between the target domain and the source domain is structured by some

of the elicited answers are: Drugs are women because drugs seduce like a beautiful woman; Drugs are high places because of the euphoria they produce

According to Jumanca (2012), this type of metaphor – so-called process metaphors is presented through the war metaphors – ARGUMENT IS A WAR It could

be explained that the structure of argument is considered as a confrontation where conceptual metaphor “THE LITIGATION IS A WAR” is revealed along with physical attack “war” – “opposition”, “contest”, and “bring”

(4) “Regulation No 40/94 is not a ground of opposition within the meaning of Article 42(1) of that regulation”

(5) “a point not really contested by the applicant in reply to a question from the Court at the hearing”

(6) “an action may be brought before”

2.2.2 Orientational metaphors in legal English

In exploring spatial metaphor, it is also interesting to note that CONTROL IS

UP, LACK OF CONTROL IS DOWN16 is very productive in most legal documents Notably, the well-known prepositions used in combination with law-related words are

under, on, in, before and beyond.17

(1) In exercising their functions under sections 2 and 3 of this Act,

(2) Well, the jury did determine, at the guilt phase, that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt

There are also spatial metaphors in legal language, such as the concepts of

“higher” and “lower” courts or “supreme” courts and of sovereignty, that influence our understanding of law (often reflected in charts where the different “levels” of courts are described).18

(3) The burden is It’s quite high and it’s high for a reason

16 This fits well with the general notion that “ARGUMENT IS WAR”, analysed by Lackoff and Johnson, p 33

17 Seskauskiene, I., & Stepančuk, J (2014) Evidence speaks for itself: metaphors in courtroom hearings

Filologija 19, p 102-120

18 Ebbesson, J (2008) Law, Power and Language: Beware of Metaphors Scandinavian Studies in Law 53, 2008,

p 259-269

(4) ( ) it would effectively allow jurors, at their discretion, to apply what is a higher standard of proof at capital sentencing […]

Such abovementioned cases are explained with reference to the metaphors MORE IS UP or GOOD/IMPORTANT IS UP (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980)

2.2.3 Ontological metaphors in legal English

Things and physical objects, according to ontological metaphors, are further specified as being persons, which is highlighted in Lakoff and Johnson (1980, p 3)

Containers

The idea of viewing people and our visual field as containers probably goes back to Lakoff and Johnson (1980, pp 29-30) Legal written contexts provide us with numerous examples in which intangible concepts are conceived of as containers with

bounding surfaces and in-out orientations Moreover, the verbs put, contain and the adjectives full and closing also contribute to the understanding of legal matters in terms

of containers:

(1) The parties shall agree in good faith to the remaining conditions

Objects such as different kinds of legal documents can also be considered as containers for words and provisions:

(2) The minutes should contain the place and date […]

(3) [ ] the activities foreseen in the Commercial Code [ ]

(4) I don’t yet have the record showing the full closing argument of both sides […]

Mental capacity law governs when a person is treated as being capable of making legally valid decisions and performing legal acts It establishes mechanisms to fill the legal void when a person is regarded as incapable of making such decisions for themselves, for example, by defining what is in their best interests The field of English mental capacity law is ripe for rhetorical study

Object

It is presumably our natural tendency to construe a less concrete concept in terms of a tangible object, with a clear shape that we are familiar with through our experience That experience with concrete objects constitutes the basis for viewing events, activities and ideas as more substantial beings (cf Lakoff & Johnson 1980, p

112) There are several instances of this metaphor in question An activity, state, property, right and duty can be conceived of as an object that can be carried, moved, held, passed around by people and so on

(5) […] the transfer of ownership of the Property to the Company

(6) In the event that some Shareholders choose to waive this right

then it passes to the remaining Shareholders […]

(7) Each Shareholder can hold more than one share

Personification

As repeatedly stated by Lakoff and Johnson, abstract concepts are largely metaphorical and “[r]eason […] arises from the nature of our brains, bodies, and bodily experience” One of the most common forms of business activity, namely a corporation,

is frequently thought of a person This conception is ubiquitous in all kinds of legal

discourses, including contracts There is also the term legal person19 applied, among

other legal entities, to a limited liability company (LLC) One way to look at an LLC is

to assume the legal perspective according to which an LLC satisfies a number of characteristics of a legal person, for instance, formation, bearing liability, carrying out various obligations, termination, etc The conception of interaction between people and companies will be significantly facilitated, provided companies are conceived of as human beings

Similar to human, especially active ones, companies can operate, create and close entities, appoint people, and so on, as in:

(8) The Company can operate in the Czech Republic and abroad

(9) The Company can create and close branches

(10) The Company appoints the following persons for the day to day contacts with the Legal Adviser

If the metaphor in question is in operation, it should be natural to assume that companies (that are humans) also possess goods and objects, as shown in (11):

(11) The Company does not have any arrears in its financial liabilities

19 Wang, X., & Tu, Y (2018) The conceptual metaphors in law—a case analysis of PRC Company Law

International Journal of Legal Discourse, 3(2), p 269–285 doi:10.1515/ijld-2018-2011

The present paper provides evidence for the existence of metaphor in legal English This variety of language for specific purposes is full of terms which designate abstract notions, most of which are not directly accessible, as they do not denote tangible referents To partially overcome this hindrance, legal language employs metaphor as a convenient tool which makes the comprehension of otherwise abstract concepts easier

2.3 Benefits of metaphor in legal English

From literature review, plentiful benefits of metaphor in terms of legal English have been figured out by previous studies In the wisdom of hindsight, there is a tendency to four common so-called benefits, specifically reaction, understanding, transformation and motivation, and application

2.3.1 Reactions

In recent studies provide some insights into the students’ reactions when becoming aware of knowledge of metaphors It has been found that learners rapidly become familiar and enjoy through the lexicalized metaphors proposed such as the traditional imagery underlying the English legal system including metaphorical identifications The inclusion of metaphors in legal English may be beneficial to providing “familiar ground” making learners more comfortable with legal English

20(Campos-Pardillos, 2016) A further finding is the power of metaphor arises from its vivid and evocative functions to see one thing as another forming a new perspective outside of our exisiting conceptual template However, a weak metaphor may confuse the learners by leading them a conceptual pathway of misunderstanding21 (Rani & Sheryl, 2006) Additionally, students may explore metaphors in a very different way in which the metaphorical competence also boosts students’ interest in foreign language study in term of law22 (Velasco Sacristán, 2009) In this light, metaphors becomes

20 Campos-Pardillos, M A (2016) Increasing metaphor awareness in legal English teaching ESP Today (Vol

4, No.2, p 165-183) p.171 (ISSN 2334-9050)

21 Rani K and Sheryl M (2006) Using Metaphors, Analogies and Similes as Aids in Teaching Pathology to

Medical Students Medical Science Educator, 16(1)

22 Velasco Sacristán, M (2009) A translation approach to metaphor teaching in the LSP classroom: Sample

exercises from a Business English syllabus Ibérica 17 83-98

especially interesting when constituting an intuitive approach for the sake of learning legal English23 (Torregrosa & Sánchez-Reyes, 2015)

Having said that, metaphor is essential in legal discourse and contexts It takes

a particular position in this regard, as found in legal documents such as statutory texts, court decisions, legal literature, etc., as well as legal reasoning and when legal issues are resolved The use of metaphors reveals how learners perceive different situations and contexts Thus, they shape legal English, and in some sense, determine which figurative expressions are valid in legal language and become a motivational factor to promote students’ interest and involvement in learning legal English In this section, we shall explore some of the potential benefits of metaphoric knowledge in legal English on the part of the learners

A first step is to explore possible bridges between metaphors and students’ reactions The early stage of learning, the students attaches a value to the knowledge of metaphor in legal English Legal English is usually characterized by very specific features such as rigid structures and long sentences with specific legal terms, Latin term

as well as ambiguity and exceptional complexity (Makodia, 2007) So, to examine the effects of metaphor concerning a degree of interaction between students and knowledge

of metaphor in general and in legal English leads to arousing interest and expectations, particularly change in the perception of students towards metaphor in general usage and

in legal English This is because this knowledge brings with them into a set of variables based on attitudes, experiences, and expectations, closely relating to their beliefs about the target tasks in learning

2.3.2 Understanding

Metaphors are created to illuminate and solidify their understandings These scenes help students remember the formal features of the given phrases and understand their meaning and lexical makeup may help students acquire the formal features of the target expressions24 (Boers, 2011, p 254) Klinck (1992, p 360-361) confirms

23 Torregrosa, G., & Sánchez-Reyes, S (2015) Raising Metaphor Awareness in English for Law Enforcement

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 212 304-308 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.377 ISSN 1877-0428,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.377

24 Boers, F (2011) Cognitive semantic ways of teaching figurative phrases: An assessment Review of Cognitive

Linguistics, 9 (1), p 254

metaphors are very useful to make abstract and complex notions in law more concrete through object metaphors – as in “to break the law” – or personification (“the eye of the law”, “the arm of the law”, “the mouth of the law”, “the body of case law”, “Lady

Justice” to name but a few examples).25

Our metaphors may give new meaning to an issue, and give a novel understanding of our experience in basic conceptions and notions of law, and in expressions for legal acts, actors, subjects, institutions and legal methods.26 In order to achieve maximum transparency, law students are rather to be found in the capacity to understand and use legal language Some are more subtle than others For instance, the use of certain expressions in court procedures, such as “defense” and “defendant”, indicates the underlying metaphor of seeing court procedures as acts of “war” that someone has to “win” rather than as a means of, say, reconciliation In short, metaphors may help students discover and uncover new ways to understand the constitutive, disciplinary, and persuasive powers of language because this approach strive to reduce the nature of complexity to legal discourse (Winter, 2007; Jumanca, 2012) Legal language employs metaphorical expressions as a convenient tool which makes the comprehension of abstract and complex concepts easier (Heikki, 2013; Richard, 2014)

Ease of comprehension may not be the sole cause of metaphor formation in the case of legal language An American lawyer, Mellinkoff D (1963) highlights the importance of understanding how cognitive metaphors are constructed and also linked

to the broader study of law, legislative change27, and legal argument in relation to a social context (Amsterdam & Bruner, 2000)

By studying the use of metaphor and its cognitive effects, we can improve our understanding of how the law develops and how we might affect that development and

it might help lawyers uncover the narratives, metaphors, and analogies that underlie much legal reasoning Having said that, metaphor molds our understanding, our

25 Klinck D R (1992) The Word of the Law: Approaches to Legal Discourse Ottawa: Carleton University Press,

reasoning, and our evaluation in persuasive and invisible ways28 (Berger, 2004) If they

go unnoticed, it is impossible to understand their impact or to counteract their effects Also, in a case study, an English lecturer, Campos-Pardillos (2016) claims that reflection

on metaphor contributes to a better understanding of legal concepts According to Boers, the use of structural techniques helps students remember the formal features of the given phrases and understand their meaning and lexical makeup may help students acquire the formal features of the target expressions29 (Boers, 2011, p 254) Obviously, understanding the source of metaphor’s power can lead to better skills in using that power

2.3.3 Transformation and motivation

On the other side, our own particular social groups’ assumptions are exposed and seen in terms of our practices, actions, speech, and contexts within which we function It also can involve breakthroughs or insights at deeper levels The result is a transformation or change in our fundamental beliefs, assumptions, goals, ideas, etc.; namely personal statements about learning legal English by the approach of metaphor, ways of expressions in mother tongues and second language, expansion of social-cultural factors, legal thinking and reasoning improvements It is also necessary to turn this approach into a conscious learning strategy that can contribute to learners’ autonomy and learning motivation30 (Boers, 2004, p 216) New insights might be gained by expanding the source materials for metaphors in order to check for potential variation and by exploring metaphor quantitatively in legal corpora31

The underlying expressions that motivate students linguistic and cultural variation in metaphors The growing interest in the relationship between metaphor and culture (Kövecses, 2010) has highlighted the fact that the figurative

cross-28 Berger, Linda L (2004) What is the Sound of a Corporation Speaking? How the Cognitive Theory of Metaphor

Can Help Lawyers Shape the Law TJSL Public Law Research Paper No 04-08 Journal of the Association of

Legal Writing Directors, Vol 2, p 170 Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=591669

29 Boers, F (2011) Cognitive semantic ways of teaching figurative phrases: An assessment Review of Cognitive

Linguistics Published under the auspices of the Spanish Cognitive Linguistics Association, 9(1), 227-261 Chicago

30 Boers, F (2004) Expanding learners’ vocabulary through metaphor awareness: What expansion, what learners,

what vocabulary? In M Achard & S Niemeier (Eds.) Cognitive Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition, and

Foreign Language Teaching (pp 211-234) Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter

31 Campos-Pardillos, M.A (2016) Increasing Metaphor Awareness in Legal English Teaching ESP Today 4 (2),

p 165-183 (ISSN 2334-9050)

expressions used by speakers of one language to express their understanding of situations may be very similar to those used by other language-speaking communities.32

By this way, speakers of English may interpret culture-bound metaphorical patterns when being familiar with background knowledge and the obstacle may be overcome by analyzing and understanding common cross-cultural differences in metaphor use (Boers, 2003; Kövecses, 2003)

The exploitation of metaphors in legal English promotes critical thinking and interactive learning; it also fosters self-study or students’ autonomy which is a vital skill who engages in lifelong learning and updating and requires and supports intercultural competence The development of metaphorical competence even boosts students’ interest in the foreign language33 (Velasco Sacristán, 2009)

2.3.4 Applications

In the deeper layers, application and production are carried out in a given specific situation after students fully recognize, retrieve relevant knowledge, evaluate, compare and give explanations They can convey intricate legal notions and may also communicate certain opinions and perspectives (Dickerson, 1996, p 374; Joo, 2002, p 23) One of the main features that spring to mind is the way we conceptualize our environment constitutes languages producing a surprising number of different variants from the underlying conceptual structure Metaphors work in this way also allows us to enrich and facilitate legal communication through useful analogies between an abstract concept and concrete one34 (Ebbesson, 2008) Yet, they are far more powerful than that

By highlighting certain aspects of a concept, and hiding others, metaphors are useful rhetorical devices, and getting a metaphor accepted may change the outcome of a negotiation, a court procedure or an academic legal debate To communicate “legally”

is more than understanding and interpreting statues It is also about managing different linguistics fictions, sliding and ambiguous expressions, and about making analogies at the right time

32 Kövecses, Z (2010) Metaphor and Culture p 197-220 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190224868.003.0005

33 Velasco Sacristán, M (2009) A translation approach to metaphor teaching in the LSP classroom: Sample

exercises from a Business English syllabus Ibérica pp 83-98

34 Ebbesson, J (2008) Law, Power and Language: Beware of Metaphor Scandinavian Studies in Law 53 p

259-269

In professional practice, lawyers can and should use metaphor creatively and consciously as a conceptual tool with recognized persuasive power The use of metaphor can contribute to the writer persuade the reader to “make the leap” and to do it “in such

a way as to make it seem graceful, compelling, even obvious.”35 Likewise, law-makers should take advantage of this rhetorical expression to help people understand abstract legal themes As a result, lawyers should learn to choose and use their metaphors with care and to closely examine those used by others In some extent, understanding the cognitive power of metaphor helps lawyers gauge their ability to overturn a longstanding

or dominant metaphor as well as the desirability of sidestepping it or tapping into its power.36 As usual, a conceptual metaphor is often used to explain complicated concepts like law and philosophy which would create a sense of distance to ordinary people Everyone can use plain and daily language to discuss legal events and exercise their legal rights

Another interesting aspect connected with metaphors in the language of law is translation, metaphor has been widely discussed within the discipline of legal translation (Christina, 2003; Newmark, 1988; Mandelblit, 1995; Cristofoli et al, 1998; Fabregat, 2015; Gražytė & Maskaliūnienė, 2017) We must bear in mind that legal translation has its own special difficulties, such as complex terminology and usually two very dissimilar legal systems as background (Soriano, 2002, p 53; Gémar 2002, p 167) Metaphorical patterns constitute an additional hindrance for legal translators since they transfer a metaphorical image together with a legal concept.37

A strategy of enhanced metaphoric awareness may offer an additional or alternative framework for the organization of figurative lexis and may facilitate certain aspects of in-depth reading comprehension38 which provides students with a new critical perspective on legal knowledge against legal discourse in general In Torregrosa and

35 Dan-Cohen (1993) supra n 124, at p 42 (quoting Donald Schon, Generative Metaphor: A Perspective on

Problem-setting in Social Policy, Metaphor and Thought 137 (Andrew Ortony ed., Cambridge U Press))

36 Berger, Linda L (2004) What is the Sound of a Corporation Speaking? How the Cognitive Theory of Metaphor

Can Help Lawyers Shape the Law TJSL Public Law Research Paper No 04-08; Journal of the Association of

Legal Writing Directors, Vol 2, p 206 Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=591669

37 Fabregat, L.V (2015) Legal metaphors in translation: The Great Chain of Being Cognitive Linguistic Studies

p 330-348 10.1075/cogls.2.2.06veg

38 Frank ew (2000) Enhancing Metaphoric Awareness in Specialised Reading, English for Specific Purposes, Volume 19, Issue 2, p 137-147 ISSN 0889-4906, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(98)00017-9 (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889490698000179)

Sánchez-Reyes’s research, they argue that raising metaphor awareness in English for law is necessary to improve reading, translation and use of communication strategies39 Furthermore, research has proved that the approach of metaphors enables students to enhance second language vocabulary retention because they can link prior knowledge

to creative skills to become more familiar with the use of metaphors in legal English discourse40 (Boers, 2000; Littlemore, 2001; Boers, 2004; Torregrosa and Sánchez-Reyes, 2015) At this point, metaphor is a highly recommended resource for building skills in specialized lexicon in which it helps learner understand and retain the target items41 (Doiz and Elizari, 2013) It is therefore likely to contribute positively to an overall level of communicative competence in foreign language learning42 and also in legal English communications The pervasiveness of these metaphoric tools in the analysis of subject-matter of legal issues in all areas of the law makes them extremely important and relevant to all legal advocates.43

2.4 Relevant studies

2.4.1 Studies on metaphor in legal English

Several papers have emphasized notion of recipients towards benefits of

metaphor in legal English Notion here refers to perception Like most concepts,

perception has been defined in a variety of ways since its inception Perception is defined

as “becoming aware of something via the senses, the process of perceiving, knowledge gained by perceiving, the representation of what is perceived; basic component in the formation of a concept”44 (Fine Dictionary) Likewise, perception is defined as “the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses” (Oxford Dictionary) Apruebo (2005) defined perception as “the process of organizing awareness

39 Torregrosa, G., & Sánchez-Reyes, S (2015) Raising Metaphor Awareness in English for Law Enforcement

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 212 304-308 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.377 ISSN 1877-0428,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.377

40 Littlemore, J (2001) Metaphoric intelligence and foreign language learning Humanising Language Teaching,

3 (2), 1, 2001 Retrieved from http://www.hltmag.co.uk/mar01/mart1.htm

41 Doiz, A., & Elizari, C (2013) Metaphoric competence and the acquisition of figurative vocabulary in foreign

language learning ELIA, 13, pp 47-82

42 cf Doiz, A., & Elizari, C

43 Smith, M.R (2007) Levels of metaphor in persuasive legal writing Mercer Law Review, p 919

44 “Perception”, Britannica Concise Encyclopedia 2006, http://www.finedictionary.com/perception.html (Accessed 12 May 2020)

and interpreting sensory input in order to give meaningful experience”45 (Pati, 2014, p 68)

This section aims to contribute to the mounting evidence provided by a wide range of studies conducted in the last two decades, designed to prove the potential benefits of underlying metaphoric themes (Boers, 2000ab; Doiz & Elizari, 2013; Thu, 2019)

To be specific, Other two studies into metaphor competence in enhancing vocabulary retention and reading comprehension were conducted by Boers in the same year Boers (2000ab) did a small-scale experiment to prove enhanced metaphoric awareness on the part of English learners can be beneficial to their reading comprehension in specialized discourse.46 His research subjects were university students attending English course at Université Libre de Bruxelles The first test was meant to identify recognition of metaphors when examining two groups: control group (CG) (who had received explanations of figurative meaning) and experimental group (EG) (who had received explanations of literal meaning only) and the initial results are positive Next, a second step is to measure the effect of metaphoric awareness on the lexical coherence The results suggested that this approach may provide students to recognize the inference pattern associated with given figurative expressions and to remember unfamiliar figurative expressions leading to improving text comprehension

The role of metaphors in the acquisition of figurative vocabulary by learners of English is investigated by Doiz and Elizari (2013) The research subjects were 40 first-year Bachelor students in Spain which were separated into two groups: CG (without inference of explanation of notion of conceptual metaphor) and EG (with instructors’ explanation on metaphorical expressions) Positive results were observed Finally, they pointed out that EG is more successful in understanding and retention of new lexical terms from that the benefits of explaining the underlying metaphors for the

45 Pati, P (2014) Indonesian foreign school teachers’ perception and capability to undertake classroom action

research: Basis for capability building program, IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education, 4(1), p

67-89

46 Boers, F (2000a) Metaphor awareness and vocabulary retention Applied Linguistics 21, 553-571

Boers, F (2000b) Enhancing metaphoric awareness in specialised reading English for Specific Purposes, 19,

137-147

understanding and acquisition of figurative language as well as long-term benefits for learners’ vocabulary expansion were examined.47

In recent years, the one conducted by Thu (2019) explored students’ reactions towards using metaphor in songs in writing from benefits and challenges of using metaphor in writing by conducting a series of questionnaires related benefits and difficulties of using metaphor The study was carried out with 30 English majored seniors at Hanoi Law University whose English proficiency was at the intermediate to high-intermediate level At first, participants were provided instruction on metaphors by teachers and then, qualitative experiment was conducted by delivering three questionnaires with a variety of items related to benefits and challenges The results revealed that although the respondents do not use metaphor frequently, they gave positive responses in expressing their views and perceptions towards the benefits of using metaphor in writing Most of them agreed that using metaphor in writing offer numerous significances: increase the cultural knowledge, use language more flexibly and naturally, increase the number of vocabulary and enhance critical thinking, to name just a few.48

Mostly related to the current study, a review of relevant research into metaphor awareness in legal English (Jumanca, 2012; Richard, 2014; Torregrosa & Sánchez-Reyes, 2015; Campos-Pardillos, 2016) Mostly related to the current study, the one conducted by Campos-Pardillos (2016) involves 13 European non-English speaking judges and prosecutors who participated in a course in English for Criminal Cooperation organized by the European Judicial Training Network in Lisbon The target pariticpants were legal practioners who are supposed to have sufficient legal knowledge in their own languages His research instrument were test and proposed exercises At first, the participants were given sentences containing metaphorical expressions and asked to translate them into their respective languages The researcher found out that legal professionals are not aware of the metaphors included in their own vocabulary (Larsson, 2014) resources of legal professionals However, once an initial understanding of

47 Doiz, A., & Elizari, C (2013) Metaphoric competence and the acquisition of figurative vocabulary in foreign language learning ELIA, 13, pp 47-82

48 Thu, N.T (2019) Using Metaphor In EFL Classroom To Enhance Writing Skills: A Case Study IJHS

International Journal of Humanity Studies (Vol.3 No.1) DOI: 10.24071/ijhs.2019.030101

metaphor has been gained and after a brief explanation to learners of what metaphors are and the fact that they are all based on source and target domain Through his study, participants found out relevant background to their professional practice This supports the argument for the inclusion of metaphors in legal English courses raising learners’ reactions towards this field Addionally, some relevant exercise were given to participants to raise metaphor awareness and expand the lexical resources of legal professionals After all, the findings showed exceptional implications of metaphor theory in legal English in terms of comprehension of legal concepts, legal vocabulary retention, legal translation, and cross-cultural reflection and suggested that language learners ought to be aware of the figurative component of legal language.49 All mentioned implications associated with corresponding common ones: reaction, understanding, transformation, and application are identified

Another study into perspectives of officer students at the Police Training Centre

is conducted by Torregrosa and Sánchez-Reyes in 2015 Their methodology aims to look for how beneficial metaphor awareness is in Law Enforcement ESP (i.e English for specific purposes) lessons The sample were expert learners in the second course of the Executive Scale of Spanish National Police (CEFR B1) being exposed to following

a Presentation – Practice – Production sequence through activities: English written, interactive activities, practical campaign design Participants were encouraged to use metaphorical expressions in the field of crime as many as possible during class period The paper investigated that the exploitation of metaphors in law may not only boost a wide range of strategies including critical thinking, legal lexical retention, legal reading skills, translation, cultural interactions and legal communications but promote students’ motivation in learning foreign language.50

2.4.2 Significance of the present study

Generally, these studies have the model presentation – practice and production applied in both their quantitative and qualitative research methods To a certain extent,

49 Campos-Pardillos, M A (2016) Increasing metaphor awareness in legal English teaching ESP Today (Vol 4, No.2, p 165-183) (ISSN 2334-9050)

50 Torregrosa, G., & Sánchez-Reyes, S (2015) Raising Metaphor Awareness in English for Law Enforcement

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 212 304-308 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.377 ISSN 1877-0428,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.377

the participants in these studies conducted from the past are mostly professionals who have a sufficient command of legal jargon: trainee police officers, judges, and prosecutors This means university students might hardly be the research subject in this area It is expected that the present study will fill the gap in previous studies and

thoroughly identifies students’ perception of benefits of metaphor in legal English

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Information on research methodology is presented in this chapter Specifically, the present chapter provides information about the research questions, research design, participants, and research instruments Data collection and statistical method are also described

3.1 Research questions

Based on the assumption which is consistently manifested in literature review that metaphor benefits learners’ legal English competence, this study investigates to what extent students in the current context perceive those benefits In particular, the study aims to address two following questions:

1 What is Legal English majored students’ perception of the benefits metaphor bring to their legal English?

2 What is High-quality Law students’ perception of the benefits metaphor bring

to their legal English?

3.2 Research design

This research is designed as a descriptive study on students’ perception of benefits of metaphor in legal English Both quantitative and qualitative data are collected and analyzed to find out how two surveyed groups: Legal English majored students and high-quality law students perceive specific benefits of metaphor in their legal English

3.3 Participants

3.3.1 Sampling

Initially, the study recruits a total of 91 voluntary participants coming from three cohorts 41 – 43 and two majors, namely LE and HQL They are all presented two introductory videos about metaphor in English and legal English, which are made by researcher and posted on YouTube First, the students spent 9 minutes watching the first video called introduction to metaphor This video demonstrates the definition of metaphor, working mechanism of metaphor, classification, and specific examples for each type It also shows how metaphor is used in ordinary conversations in Vietnamese

and English native speakers Next, the second video which lasts 7 minutes mainly focuses on introduction to metaphor in legal English The metaphorical legal expressions are categorized into three groups: structural metaphor, orientational metaphor and ontological metaphor Then, each group is illustrated by specific examples contained in legal documents and explanation of the underlying meaning of these expressions

Subsequently, a 15 – question item quiz is given to 91 viewers to test their understanding about metaphor in English generally and legal English specifically Of those 91 students, there are 58 students whose quiz results reach upper average (more than 7 correct answers) Then, to balance up the number of participants among three cohorts (41, 42, 43) between two majors (LE and HQL), merely 36 participants are randomly selected from 58 outstanding quiz takers (See Table 3.1)

Table 3.1: The participants

3.3.2 Legal English majored students

There is involvement from Legal English majored students who enrolled in three consecutive cohorts ranging from cohort 41 – last-year students to cohort 43 – second-year students from BA Program in Ho Chi Minh City University of Law The selected samples comprise 18 students, 78% of whom are female and 22% are male, a ratio closely proportional to the ratio of women to men in the three cohorts Their ages range from 19 to 24 The participants have been exposed to courses associated with Legal English, namely Legal Reasoning and Methodology, Legal Interpretation and Translation, Contract Law, Corporation Law, Comparative Law, Law of the Sea, WTO Law, Tort Law, US and EU Competition Law, International Trade Terminology in their 4-year curriculum They are expected to absorb a wide range of knowledge about legal English terms The participants are evenly divided according to classes and cohorts

3.3.3 High-quality law majored students

Equal to LE participant numbers, there are 18 High-quality Law students involved in the study Different from a plurality of law majored students, the HQL students take many courses of law in English: Legal Reasoning and Methodology, Contract Law, Corporation Law, Comparative Law, Law of the Sea, WTO Law, Tort Law, US and EU Competition Law, International Trade Terminology Their curriculum covers all basic areas of law and offers the so-called work placement programs in which students placed in a job in well-known law firms can gain the industry experience Thus, they are supposed to gain insights into legal English terms to a certain extent Three of them are male and fifteen are female Similar to the LE groups, the participants are evenly divided according to classes and cohorts

3.4.2 Questionnaire

The quantitative data is collected via questionnaires passed to 18 Legal English majored students and 18 High-quality Law students The questionnaire includes two sections along with an introduction to the objective of the study The first section seeks some personal information of the participants such as name, age, gender, cohort number, and the participants’ experience in learning metaphor The second one, the prime part

of the questionnaire, includes 27 items, each of which is a statement manifesting potential benefits All of the items are designed on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 –