Alissa J. Hartig is Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University, USA. Her research interests include English for Specific Purposes and second language writing.

Acknowledgements

Transcription Conventions

1. Introduction

Part 1: Language, Literacy, and Disciplinary Knowledge

2. Second Language Legal Literacy

3. Linking Language and Concepts through Pedagogy

Part 2: Case Studies

4. Hong: Legal concepts mediating language use

5. Weixin: Understanding precedent but struggling with language

6. Bader: Negotiating genre to express a common law argument

7. Alima: Distinguishing discourse proficiency from "professional vision"

Part 3: Addressing Connections between Language and Disciplinary Knowledge

8. Implications for research and teaching

Conclusion

Epilogue

References

Index

How are language and disciplinary knowledge connected in the English for Legal Purposes (ELP) classroom, and how far should ELP practitioners go in supporting students' acquisition of the conceptual frameworks that shape the genres they are learning? This book presents a pedagogical model for incorporating these conceptual frameworks into disciplinary language instruction and follows four focal participants as they learn to read and write new genres in a second language and disciplinary culture. By examining not just students' written texts, but also their reading practices and interactions in class and in tutoring sessions, the book traces the ways in which disciplinary knowledge and language interact as students develop academic literacy in a new disciplinary community. Throughout the book, the discipline of law is used as a lens for examining broader connections between language, culture and disciplinary knowledge, and their relevance for English for Specific Purposes and writing in the disciplines.