Abstract:
Numerous studies present employers’ dissatisfaction with the English writing
competence of law graduates, yet few studies in English for Specific
Purposes (ESP) have provided implications for legal genre-based writing
instruction. Employing Swales’s CARS Model (1990), originally developed
for the analysis of the moves in introductions of research articles, this study
identified the rhetorical and lexico-grammatical features of five authentic
legal letters of demand in order to create a move/step model that would
inform legal letter writing pedagogy. The methodology of this study is based
on the qualitative move analysis approach, and the five lawyers’ letters were
coded using QDA Miner Lite software to identify typical communicative
purposes of moves and steps and linguistic features pertaining to them. The
accuracy of the move/step model created was confirmed with 85% of interrater
reliability check, and it was also validated by the consent of two
lawyers. Further, their views on the discursive practices of the linguistic
choices related to the rhetorical organization of the letters were used to
supplement the move analysis. The results include the similarities and
differences of move/step occurrences in the five letters, linguistic features of
the moves, mandatory and optional moves/steps, and the reasons for their
presence. The move/step model created, and its linguistic features can be
used to develop letters of demand writing lessons to help novice legal
practitioners/undergraduates learn the rhetorical structure, linguistic features
and discursive practices associated with writing letters of demand.
