The Experiences in Processing Policies and Contracts by Adult ESL Readers

Evalyn B. Abiog*
*Faculty Member, University of Santo Tomas, Espana, Manila, Philippines.
Periodicity:October - December'2017
DOI : https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.7.4.13767

Abstract

The present study describes the experiences of adult English as a Second Language (ESL) readers in processing legal texts prior to entering a financial agreement. A preliminary survey was conducted to determine the commonly read policies and contracts of adult ESL reader-consumers, which revealed those of banks and life-insurance companies; hence, these two were used as instruments of the study. A bank policy and a life-insurance contract were used as samples of legal texts, which were read by eight adult ESL readers from several cities in Metro Manila. Triangulation was employed to capture the essence of the experiences of the adult ESL readers. The participants' accounts were subjected to qualitative data analysis of transcribing, highlighting statements, clustering related themes, reducing related themes to core themes, and describing the essence of the participants' experience. The study found that, the experiences of the adult ESL readers in making sense of legal texts were influenced by processing strategies. The essence of the participants' experiences lies in their challenging, yet meaningful reading experience. The challenges rest on the complexity of legal texts and on the limited understanding of these readers. Despite these challenges, they recognized the implications of their reading experience to their future financial transactions.

Keywords

Adult ESL Readers, Legal Texts, Policies, Contracts, Processing Strategies

How to Cite this Article?

Abiog, B. E. (2017). The Experiences in Processing Policies and Contracts by Adult ESL Readers. i-manager’s Journal on English Language Teaching, 7(4), 44-54. https://doi.org/10.26634/jelt.7.4.13767

References

[1]. Armbruster, B. B., Echols, C. H., & Brown, A. L. (1983). The role of metacognition in reading to learn: A developmental perspective. Reading Education Report No. 40. Urbana, IL: Center for the Study of Reading. [ED228 617]
[2]. Ary, D., Jacobs, L.C., Sorensen, C., & Razavich, A. (2010). Introduction to research education (8th Ed.). Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
[3]. Biancarosa, G. & Snow, C. E. (2003). Reading next: A vision for action and research in middle and high school literacy. Washington DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.
[4]. Brandimonte, M. A., Bruno, N., & Collina, S. (2006). Cognition. In P. Pawlik and G. d'Ydewalle (Eds.) Psychological Concepts: An International Historical Perspective. Hove, UK: Psychology Press, 2006. Retrieved from: http://www2.unipr.it/~brunic22/mysite/cogn06.pdf
[5]. Bransford, J., Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.) (1999). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
[6]. Chall, J. (1983). Stages of Reading Development. New York: McGraw Hill.
[7]. Cogan Jr., J. A. (2010). Readability, Contracts of Recurring Use, and the Problem of Ex Post Judicial Governance of Health Insurance Policies. Roger Williams University Law Review, 15 (1), 93-126.
[8]. Creswell, J. W. (2006). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, California, United States of America: Sage Publications, Inc.
[9]. Danet, B. (1980). Language in Legal Process. Contemporary Issues in Law and Social Science, 14(3), 445-564.
[10]. Dawson, T. L. (2008). Metacognition and Learning in Adulthood. Developmental Testing Service, South Park, Northampton.
[11]. EnGauge 21st century skills. (2003). EnGauge. Retrieved from: http://www.ncrel.org/engauge
[12]. Estrabooks, C. A. (1999). The conceptual structure of research utilization. Research in Nursing & Health, 22, 203- 216.
[13]. Estrabooks, C. A. (2001). Research utilization and qualitative research. In J. M. Morse, J. M. Swanson, & A. J. Kuzel (Eds.), The Nature of Qualitative Evidence (pp. 275- 298). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[14]. Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34, 906-911.
[15]. Grabe, W. & Stoller, F. L. (2011). Teaching and Researching Reading (2nd ed). London: Routledge.
[16]. Hammersley & Atkinson, P. (1995). Ethnography: Principles in Practice (2nd ed). Routledge, London.
[17]. Hawkins, K. (2011). Many are consumers confused by language in insurance policies. Retrieved from: www.insurancequotes.com
[18]. Hermosa, N. (2002). The Psychology of Reading. Diliman Quezon City: University of the Philippines.
[19]. Husserl, E. (1970). The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology (D. Carr, Trans). Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
[20]. Ilustre, C. A. (2011). Beliefs about reading, metacognitive reading strategies and text comprehension among college students in a private university. Philippine ESL Journal, 7, Time Taylor International.
[21]. Johnson, A. (2013). Economic literacy is essential for all. Retrieved from https://econprofaj.wordpress.com/ 2013/03/26/economic-literacy-is-essential-for-all/
[22]. Lintao, R. B. (2015). Simplifying a Philippine consumer-finance contract: Towards the development of a user-comprehensible, readable and legally acceptable document (Doctoral Dissertation University of Santo Tomas).
[23]. McCombs, B. (1989). Self-regulated Learning and Academic Achievement: A Phenomenological View. New York: Springer New York Inc. pp. 51-82.
[24]. Mokhtari, K. & Sheorey, R. (2001). Differences in the metacognitive awareness of reading strategies among native and non-native readers. Science Direct, 29(4), 431- 449.
[25]. Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, London; New Delhi: Sage Publications.
[26]. National Center for Adult Literacy. (2002). Defining and measuring literacy. National Assessments of Adult Literacy (NAAL). Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/naal/ defining/defining.asp
[27]. Oliver, P. (2006). Purposive Sampling. SAGE Research Methods, Retrieved from http://srmo.sagepub.com/ view/the-sage-dictionary-of-social-research-methods/ n162.xml
[28]. Pikulski, J. J. (2002). Readability. Houghton Mifflin Company. Retrieved from https://www.eduplace.com/ state/author/pikulski.pdf
[29]. Rosenblatt, L. M. (1978). The Reader, the Text, the Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literacy Work. Carbondale Southern Illinois University Press. p. 196.
[30]. Sandelowski, M. (2004). Using qualitative research. Sage Journals, 14(10). 1366-1386.
[31]. Scott, D. (2010). Education, Epistemology, and Critical Realism. New York, U.S.A. Routledge.
[32]. Tei, E. & Stewart, O. (1985). Effective Studying from Text. Forum for Reading, (2), 46-55.
[33]. The Condition of Education. (2003). National Center for Educational Statistics. US Department of Education Science.
[34]. Tiersma, P. (1999). Legal Language. University of Chicago Press.
[35]. Trosborg, A. (1991). An analysis of legal speech acts in English contract law. Journal of Linguistics, 6, 65-90. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7146/hjlcb.v4i6.21456.
[36]. Van Manen, M. (1980). Pedagogical Theorizing. Curriculum Praxis. Department of Secondary Education, Universtiy of Alberta.
[37]. Zarrabi, S. (2015). Exploring metacognitive online reading strategies of non-native English-speaking translation students. USF Scholarship. University of San Francisco. Retrieved from http://repository.usfca.ed
If you have access to this article please login to view the article or kindly login to purchase the article

Purchase Instant Access

Single Article

North Americas,UK,
Middle East,Europe
India Rest of world
USD EUR INR USD-ROW
Pdf 35 35 200 20
Online 35 35 200 15
Pdf & Online 35 35 400 25

Options for accessing this content:
  • If you would like institutional access to this content, please recommend the title to your librarian.
    Library Recommendation Form
  • If you already have i-manager's user account: Login above and proceed to purchase the article.
  • New Users: Please register, then proceed to purchase the article.