An Investigation of Code-Switching in Saudi Students' Legal Writing

This report investigates the challenges faced by Saudi students in legal writing, particularly in Australia, where English is the primary language of instruction and legal practice. It explores the concept of code-switching, the practice of alternating between languages, and its impact on the cohesion and clarity of legal arguments. The report examines the unfairness of judging Saudi students by the same standards as native English speakers and highlights the importance of understanding the linguistic and cultural barriers they encounter. It reviews literature on language and social interaction, rethinking immersion in the legal writing classroom, and the role of first language in second language learning. The research methodology includes study design, strategies, sample, data collection, instruments, and data analysis. The study aims to investigate the association between language and social interaction, assess rethinking immersion, and ascertain the influence of code-switching on Saudi students' legal writing. The report also proposes strategies for educators to support the language development of these students and to create a more equitable learning environment.

Running Head: RESEARCH
Research Proposal Title
Code Switching in the Legal Writings of Saudi Students and Native-
Speakers of English Students at an Academic Level: an Investigation of
Cohesion
The Investigator
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ABSTRACT
Every country has its own language and people residing there use the same for
communicating with each other. The communicating parties should be given with a chance to
express themselves in any way possible for increasing efficiency of communication process.
Many Saudi students learning in United States are not native speakers of the English
language. Some of them have a little understanding of English language even though it is the
language used in class by teachers and other students. In legal writings, these students get
massive challenges because they are expected to express their arguments in a language of
which they do not have enough knowledge.. Learning English language is important, but it's
not fair to judge the students in the same way native English language speakers are judged in
legal writings. This paper will start by looking at how immersion has been operationalized in
legal writing scholarship and practice and contrast to this a similar model from applied
linguistics. It will consider how the settings in which this form of immersion is best to vary in
critical routes from a law school setting. Finally, it will analyse different ways that students'
utilization of their first language can fill in as an asset for second language learning, and also
offer solid proposals and contemplations for education.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................1
Background of the study........................................................................................................1
Statement of the problem.......................................................................................................1
Question of the study.............................................................................................................2
Aim and objectives.................................................................................................................2
Scope of the study..................................................................................................................3
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................................3
Language and Social Interaction............................................................................................4
Rethinking Immersion in the Legal Writing Classroom........................................................4
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................................6
Study design...........................................................................................................................7
Strategies and philosophies....................................................................................................7
Sample....................................................................................................................................8
Data collection and instruments.............................................................................................8
Data analysis..........................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER IV: SUMMARY....................................................................................................12
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................13

Running Head: RESEARCH
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Saudi students in Australia are having a hard time when expressing themselves in
class or even in court for law students. They have been graded on the same matrix as of
Australian students who are native English speakers. This is not fair to the Saudi students
who learn English as a second language. The study will be carried out in Australia as well as
in Saudi Arabia. Saudi students who are learning in Australia, most of them are studying law
that will be involved in the investigation. Saudi students taking online classes in Australian
Universities will also be interviewed on the same matter.
Statement of the problem
Lecturers and students love to communicate fluently with each other for better
understanding. In the recent times, Saudi students find it hard to express themselves in court
because they don’t use English as their first language. Moreover, majority of Saudi students
learning in Australia are not comfortable with English language due to lack of fluency
regarding the same. This is one of the main causes due to which Saudi students in Australia
face issues in relation to understand language used by teachers and other students
(Australians). Further, in Australia, Saudi students also face problem in presenting their
argument in English because they are not well-versed in it. Hence, main focus of the study is
to highlight unfair aspects that take place with Saudi students with respect to language. Now,
emphasis is placed by lecturers on judging legal writing of both Australian and Saudi students
in a same way which in turn recognised as unfair. From previous studies, it has assessed that
language is one of the main cultural aspects or barrier which in turn closely influences
international students. However, in the former studies, scholar failed to highlight the
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effectiveness of code-switching pertaining to legal writing. In the context of cultural issues
emphasis has laid by the scholars on loneliness and competence
(Alsahafi and Chul Shin, 2017). Referring such aspect, problem has assessed for presenting
in-depth evaluation of concerned issue. Thus, various forms of methodologies to understand
and solve the problem of code switching in legal writings of Saudi students will be
considered.
Question of the study
Can there be cohesion in code switching of legal writings of the Saudi students in Australia?
Aim and objectives
In published articles on legal writing and also in discussions with law faculty,
complete immersion appeared to focus on confining students' entrance to first language trying
to cultivate their acquisition of English. This in turn recognized as suggestions about keeping
students from using bilingual translation lexicons. In different cases, faculty specified
disheartening students from using first languages for any note-taking in their classes. This
accentuation on immersion also appeared to focus more on the amount of English that
students should have been presented to instead of the idea of the materials gave, with motion
pictures, music, and children's literature being displayed as equally valid hotspots for
language think about as casebooks or videos of scholastic lectures on legal points. At any
rate, some portion of this accentuation on the amount of English language input seemed to
originate from a belief that such introduction would do the vast majority of crafted by
activating language acquisition all alone and that allowing students access to their first
languages could obstruct this procedure. These thoughts are widely seen with incredulity in
applied linguistics today, notwithstanding. On the basis of aim, following objectives have
been developed:
Research objectives

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 To investigate association between language and social interaction in context of Saudi
students in Australia.
 To assess rethinking immersion in the legal writing classroom pertaining to Saudi
students under Australia.
 To ascertain the influence of code switching on the legal writing of Saudi students
studying in Australia.
Scope of the study
The paper will examine how immersion has been operationalized in legal writing
scholarship and practice and contrast to this a similar model from applied linguistics. It will
consider how the settings in which this form of immersion is best to vary in critical routes
from a law school setting. Also, it will analyse different ways that students' utilization of their
first language can fill in as an asset for second language learning and also offer solid
proposals as well as contemplations for educating.
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Davidson and Smith (2016), multilingual law students' utilization of
their first language can play an imperative role in helping them to deal with these additional
challenges. In the class, students' ability to take notes in their first language can be one
approach to counterbalance a portion of the intellectual load forced by processing difficult
legal ideas, complex linguistic structures, specialized vocabulary and unfamiliar cultural
references in the meantime (Gitsaki, 2016). While some faculty expresses worry that
students' translation of thoughts from the course into their first language may result in a
mutilation of crucial legal ideas. This does not consider the way that not with standing when
students do take notes in their first language, they frequently "code-switch," or move between
languages, while doing as such.

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This proposes a fair current ability concerning the student to perceive particular
articulations and terms of artistry as having implications that likely don't have a simple,
coordinated correspondence with their first language (Clark, 2016). Most of the students
know potential risks of direct translation, yet individuals who utilize it ineffectively may not
know about techniques for maintaining a strategic distance from it. Simply, telling these
students not to translate is unlikely to help.
Language and Social Interaction
For international LL.M. or, then again J.D. exchange students, who regularly don't fit
well into 1L, 2L, or 3L cohort, the utilization of their first language also plays a vital social
role. These students may locate that other international students can better relate to the
difficulties they confront both outside and inside of school than their American classmates
can (Khassawneh, 2016). In the wake of using English to deal with a stopping ticket they got
on the grounds that they misconstrued the contractions on a sign, sitting through four hours of
classes in which it appears like every other person can answer all of the teacher's inquiries,
being immersed with unfamiliar decisions at eateries e.g., What sort of toast would you like?
How would you need your eggs? Home fries or hash tans? And feeling like nothing comes
quickly, a social discussion in a student's first language offers a little reprieve in what can feel
like an endless barrage of English (Gitsaki, 2015). Research on language learning is
increasingly perceiving the significance of feeling and keeping in mind that these sorts of
discussions may not relate directly to students' coursework, dialogs of "critical occurrences,
for example, these can also facilitate students' learning of social parts of language utilize.
Rethinking Immersion in the Legal Writing Classroom
According to Khassawneh (2016), one thing that we have come to comprehend in
second language acquisition look into is that language learning isn't a zero-aggregate
amusement: you don't need to push one language out to account for another. Indeed,

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investigate on bilingualism proposes that numerous parts of language knowledge form some
portion of a "typical underlying capability and that the literacy skills which students have
already developed in their first language give an essential establishment to their development
of academic literacy in a moment language (Clarke, 2016). As opposed to expecting that
students are beginning from zero, we can capitalize on these current skills by focusing on the
parts of U.S. legal perusing and writing that are not shared crosswise over languages and
genres like the specific linguistic and structural prompts that signal segments of a case that
learners need to focus on ((Khassawneh, 2016). In addition, they need to know how to
interpret genre-specific syntactic structures like the complex phrasal and clausal chains that
are frequently used to adjust things in statutory language.
This approach is very unique in relation to the "complete immersion" depicted
towards the start of this column. What our present understandings of language learning
recommend is that our focus should not be on the best way to limit students' entrance to their
first language yet rather on the most proficient method to guarantee that the English language
assets we give to them build on and grow their current communicative collection
(Khassawneh, 2016). This requires something other than flooding students with English-
language contribution to whatever form happens to be readily available, yet instead
guaranteeing that the materials we give in instructional settings are carefully curated to react
to students' most squeezing communicative needs ((Khassawneh, 2016). Given their role in
meeting individually with students, writing specialists are well situated to give such help.
There is no doubt that furnishing learners with high chances to utilize English over an
assortment of settings recognized as critical approach which in turn contributes in their
language development. The sort of immersion supported in the approach above can deliver
noteworthy results sometimes. Middlebury College's strong summer language programs are
one widely perceived example (Clarke, 2016). Students in these projects sign a "Language

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Pledge," focusing on conveying exclusively in their picked target language for the span of
approximately two-month program.
The program's morning sessions focus on serious, classroom-based language
direction, while the evening sessions give chances to usereal language in more informal
settings, for example, expressions and specialties or cooking. Students in the program are
known for gaining considerable ground in a brief span. The Middlebury model is well suited
to the setting for which it was outlined: a transient experience focused exclusively on
language development for household students (Davidson, 2015). Be that as it may, the
circumstance looked by international students in a U.S. law school setting is significantly
extraordinary. International LL.M. or, on the other hand, J.D. students will burn through at
least one year's outside of their nation of origin. Unlike students in the late spring camp-like
climate of Middlebury program, a large number of these international law students will need
to deal with essential logistical issues relating to deal with their visas, discovering housing,
exploring a remote scholarly framework and making sense of how to deal with their other
everyday needs (Clark, 2016). As they do as such, they are likely to get little sensitivity or
tolerance when there are holes in their linguistic knowledge and some will also encounter
segregation in light of their inflection or race. In the meantime, they will be relied upon to
develop their general language capability as well as their substantive knowledge of U.S. law.
This will additionally involve getting to be plainly capable in highly specialized genres that
various monolingual English speakers find challenging.
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In order to evaluate concerned issue related to Saudi students, qualitative research will
be conducted. It is aimed at understanding the motivation behind code switching of Saudi
students in legal writings. The research will also pave way for quantitative research. In this,

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out of three methods, mixed methods will be undertaken by the researcher that includes both
qualitative and quantitative. By making focus on such two types, level to which
improvements in the legal writing of Saudi students as per code switching aspect will be
determined.
Study design
In this, exploratory and meta-analysis research design will be considered to assess
whether code switching aspects make improvement in legal writing of Saudi students in
Australia or not. Exploratory design proves to be suitable here because there are very few
studies are available with regard to concerned issue. Along with this, for summarizing results
in a systematic manner methodology of meta-analysis will be considered.
Strategies and philosophies
Positivism philosophy will be used to ascertain cohesion pertaining to the code
switching of Saudi students legal writing in Australia. Main reason behind the selection of
positivism philosophy is that it helps in discovering relevant information from quantitative
data set.
Survey strategy will be used by researcher to analyse the level to which code
switching aspect provides assistance to Saudi students in writing. For getting suitable
responses from Saudi students and lecturers in Australia, as per the research issue,
questionnaire will be drafted by including both open and close ended questions. Hence, such
strategy will prove to be more beneficial and helps in determining appropriate solution of the
issue being faced by Saudi students in Australia. Hence, by including questions about the
language issue, legal writings, etc. solution of the issues will be assessed. In addition to this,
for collecting responses from lecturer’s interview, checklist will be prepared. This in turn
helps in ascertaining the manner in which code switching helps Saudi students in legal
writing.

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Sample
Considering purposive sampling technique, Saudi students in Australia and lecturers
will be selected. Such non-probabilistic sampling technique will assist in making selection of
sample according to the objective of study (Mackey &Gass, 2015). Moreover, under such
technique, sample is selected on the basis of population characteristics.
Data collection and instruments
Primary and secondary are the main two sources that scholar can employ for the
collection of primary data set. Survey, interview, observation, focus group,etc.are the main
sources that aid collection of primary data set (Flick, 2015). In the concerned study, with the
motive to present fair solution of issue, data will be gathered from both the sources. Primary
data will be gathered by the researcher via both survey and interview. Saudi students learning
in the Australiawill be contacted and involved in the study. Hence, by conducting survey on
students via questionnaire, primary data will be collected. The rationale behind such selection
is that now, Saudi students are facing issues in using English as first language in Australian
courts. Thus, they would become able to provide suitable information in relation to the
concerned issue. Further, lecturers who deal with the students will also be included in
investigation. By organizing interview session with the help of checklist responses from
lecturers will be gathered.
Researcher will also evaluate secondary sources such as books, journals and scholarly
articles for the development of brief thesis. For the purpose of secondary data collection,
meta-analysis and systematic review will be conducted.
Meta-analysis
Scholarly papers related to language and social interaction as well as rethinking
immersion in the legal writing will be evaluated. Hence, by using such statistical procedure,

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data will be combined and gathered from multiple studies. Past research papers on the subject
can help in understanding how code-switching can help Saudi students in legal writing.
Systematic review
This will entail a critical evaluation and assessment of all research studies that have
been carried out in the area. Such review will assist in preparing a brief thesis and meeting
research objectives from theoretical perspectives.
Case-control study
This will enable us to determine the outcomes without depending on history. It will
increase the efficiency of research. In accordance with such aspect, by taking views from
Saudi students in Australia and lecturer’s impact of code switching on the legal writing will
be assessed.
Data analysis
SPSS technique will be used to derive suitable outcomes or conclusion fromthe
primary data set. Hence, various tools such as descriptive statistics, regression will be used
for analysing the data gathered via survey. Graphs will also be included to facilitate better
understanding in relation to results assessed. Further, results, pertaining to the influence of
code switching on writing of Saudi students, derived through survey, will also be supported
with secondary data findings such as meta-analysis, systematic review and case-control
study. Moreover, meta-analysis as well as systematic review presents findings of several
articles and thereby helps in analysing primary results in an appropriate and structured way.
Along with this, to analyse data set gathered from lecturers via interview, thematic perception
technique will be applied. On the basis of this, several themes will be prepared in accordance
with interview checklist and responses of lecturer. Thus, using the findings of multiple
research studies or papers, results of primary data set will be analysed.