Learning Legal Language through Humour: I Wish You a (Reasonably) Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year (Twelve (12) Months from the Date Hereof)

Abstract

Using a humour-based approach to language learning is a well-documented area of research (Powell & Anderson 1985, Wagner & Urios-Aparisi 2011), but less so in the context of languages for specific purposes (LSP). In this chapter we seek to narrow this gap through an exploratory experiment carried out as part of on-going research on humour and law. We look at the possibilities offered by humour in teaching legal English, either in itself or as the foundation of legal translation courses. After a general overview of the role of humour as a means of introducing specialised terminology and content-specific knowledge and the potential problems entailed by the use of humour in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teaching contexts, we review the specific case of humour in law and legal language. We then present classroom-based research regarding a number of activities aimed at creating awareness of the relationship between humour and law, as well as potential negative or passive responses to humour-based language strategies aimed at learning legal language through a metalinguistic approach.