THE LANGUAGE OF THE NIGERIAN LEGAL DOCUMENTS

The uniqueness of legal documents in terms of structural complexities has significance for the encoding and decoding of meaning especially where English Language functions as a second language {ESL).These documents’ intent and content are responsible for the classification of legal discourse and in-built meaning-potentials in this discourse. This book did a discourse analysis of ten legal documents in English. A preliminary study revealed that some legal documents are transactional and bilateral while others are prescriptive and non-inter-personal. Ten documents were selected and classified into three based on their strategic process of communication using the Discourse Analysis methods. A questionnaire was designed to investigate a number of hypotheses. The responses were analysed using frequency and percentage rating while the hypotheses were tested using chi-square statistics. The study asserts that contrary to popular perception, legal materials can be made comprehensible and accessible. Researchers in English language, linguistics, legalese, students as well as applied linguists will find this book useful.