Common Linguistic Errors in Comprehending English Legal Texts among Non-English Major Students

Abstract

In the context of increasing international legal integration, the ability to read and comprehend legal English has become increasingly important for law students. However, non-English major students at Hanoi Law University continue to encounter difficulties when accessing English legal documents due to the complexity of legal language and its high requirements for precision. This study aims to identify the common language errors that students make during the comprehension of legal documents, while also analysing the causes and proposes pedagogical solutions. Data were collected from reading comprehension tests and translation tasks completed by 67 students majoring in International Commercial Law, including 34 students from Class 4926 and 33 students from Class 4827. Error analysis and independent-samples t-tests were employed to examine the frequency of errors and compare the performance of the two groups. The findings showed five main error groups: (1) terminology-related errors, (2) gramatical errors, (3) syntacatic errors; (4) semantics and translation errors, and (5) stylistic errors, in which terminology-related errors were the most prevalente, indicating substantial challenges in understanding specialized legal vocabulary. The independente-samples t-test further revealed significant diferences between the two cohorts in terminology, gramatical, and syntactic errors, while no significant discrepancies were found in semantic, translation, and stylistic errors. The results suggest that students’ difficulties primarily stem from limited legal knowledge, insuficiente English proficiency, and ineffective learning strategies. The study recommends adopting genre-based legal English instruction, intergrating authentic legal texts into teaching practices, and emphasizing error-analysis activities to improve students’ legal English reading and translation competence.