Abstract

Specialized Lexicography as it stands today owes much to the user’s centred approach while dictionary making. The present study empirically investigates the use of law dictionaries by the law graduates in Pakistan. The study has taken account of dictionary usage among the Pakistani law graduates within the framework of Function Theory of Lexicography. The study being descriptive qualitative research is placed within pragmatic paradigm. A sample of six hundred law students, who were non-native learners of English and learning this language in ESP context, was drawn and responses were recorded through data tools i.e., questionnaire, semi-structured protocols and observation as favoured in other studies of the similar nature mostly outside Pakistan. Data were analysed through SPSS and presented in tables and graphs. The analysis of qualitative data, however, is based on thematic approach. The study revealed that that existing law dictionaries do not cater to the decoding as well as encoding language needs of the learners although they were found more in need to consult lexicographical resources in law studies because of the complex nature of legal discourse. The study also revealed that the law graduates sadly lacked in awareness regarding both the right choice of law dictionaries best suited to address their potential needs and skills to exploit the dictionary (ies) in order to retrieve the required information successfully. They preferred to use monolingual, bilingual law dictionaries, general purpose dictionaries (hard copy and digital) along with the online resources as a good combination to solve their language problems. Moreover, their reference skills were found weak which may be improved through explicit instructions on dictionary use. The study is part of a doctoral research.

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