Date of Award

December 2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Linguistics

First Advisor

Glenn Starr

Committee Members

Glenn Starr, Hanyong Park, Fred R. Eckman

Keywords

Legal English, play

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss the design of a Legal English and U.S. Law course for undergraduate Japanese law students visiting for a semester at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s English Language Academy. I review how I went about analyzing the students’ needs and wants and the factors affecting their motivation. I explain my philosophy of second language teaching, in particular, that second language teaching should contain an element of play. I describe how I sought to introduce a play element in the course through such techniques as watching law-related movies, role play activities, Kahoot quizzes, and pronunciation drills. Course design included, as well, vocabulary study, readings of authentic legal texts as well as teacher-prepared writings, guest speakers, and field trips. I report the students’ reactions to the course, as indicated in a mid-semester survey.

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