USING THE PERSUASIVE GENRE AS AN EFFECTIVE ESL TEACHING MODULE IN LEGAL CONTEXTS

Abstract

This paper presents selective findings from an ongoing study that investigates Persuasive legal writing skills of undergraduate students of law taking English for Specific purposes (ESP) course in Tamil Nadu, India. The ESP is an integral part of English Language Teaching (ELT). The aim of this study is to analyse and compare the discourse structure of legal paragraphs written by students of ESL-English Taught as Second Language (ESL) with Batiya's move scheme analysis based on an integrated theoretical framework of social/ legal discourse analysis and analysis of genre Swales 1990 and Bhatia 1993. Communication is a field of study that has its root in the study of persuasion. Recent years have witnessed increased attention being given to the notion of genre in the area of English Language Teaching (ELT). At the tertiary level, Indian students of English (ESL) face a significant transition in Shifting attention and the mode of their learning from the rudimentary tools of their new language to the larger components of language by which native English Speakers Communicate with one another. One such component is the use of genre in English discourse and conventions and constraints imposed on Communication to improve Persuasive skills especially in legal contexts. This paper addresses the issue.