Sessions

The Plain English Movement in the business law ESP classroom

English is used as the lingua franca of international commercial law practice and globalization has ensured ongoing interest in this area of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) around the world. However, the challenges of learning complex legal language can be very acute for the growing body of lawyers and business professionals from non-English speaking backgrounds, including Japan. Widespread criticism of the archaic and technical nature of legalese has led to the development of the Plain English Movement, which is designed to simplify legal English in order to communicate more effectively. The use of plain English refers to language that is clear and straightforward, which makes the law comprehensible and more directly relevant to those who deal with it. As a specialist in teaching legal discourse practices, I present some of the main initiatives in this global sociolinguistic movement (with examples) to demonstrate how ESP instructors can account for these linguistic changes in order to educate business/law students and professionals already working in business law contexts. In particular, I show how the use of plain language in legislative drafting is paving the way for more systematic changes in the use of contracts, legal briefs and client letters of advice. Many professionals in commercial law practice have found plain language to not only save significant time and money, but also generate income by attracting new clients. The same socio-economic benefits can be realized in Japan with more effective ESP pedagogy and communication training in this field.