Incorporating Lawyers’ Perspectives on Genre Organization of Legal Letters of Demand into the Pedagogy of Teaching English for Legal Purposes

Chamila Kothalawala, Thamara Kothalawala and Sujeeva Sebastian Pereira
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Chamila Kothalawala: General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Ratmalana, Western, Sri Lanka
Thamara Kothalawala: General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Ratmalana, Western, Sri Lanka
Sujeeva Sebastian Pereira: University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 2024, vol. 8, issue 6, 2878-2888

Abstract: In the tradition of ESP genre analysis, there is a paucity of legal genre analyses that focused on exploring the expert perspectives on genre organization to raise learners’ rhetorical consciousness of the necessary discursive practices. Therefore, this study analyzed interview data on the genre organization of a legal letters of demand collected from 10 lawyers. The Grounded Theory methods were employed to collect data and the analysis resulted in the writers’ rationales for the choice of the elements in genre organization. The lawyers organize facts provided by a client in a predictable and logical order, and the problem-solving activities they frequently conduct before writing a letter ensure the accuracy of the facts. The lawyers’ use of the elements in genre organization was based on an agreed set of conventions. The three important considerations of the lawyers interviewed regarding the organization of a letter of demand were 1) linear organization of moves and steps, 2) attention to details and 3) consistency in using the elements. It is required to make law students aware of lawyers’ expectations of the structure of the genre. The students’ needs should be fulfilled in genre-based activities (i.e., brainstorming, and problem-solving activities in the pre-writing stage) to raise their awareness on the responsibility of a lawyer in the genre convention.

Date: 2024
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