Plain Language Translations of American Divorce Law
181in order to complete the form, rather than requiring litigants to list the facts
in free form on blank lines after reading a long, nearly unreadable
paragraph.
Plain language translators have done rather well in improving
American divorce law forms, but they do not fully understand the science
behind these improvements. Cognitive linguistics has much to offer this
valuable work in that regard. Certainly, the present tests for
comprehension, such as focus groups and surveys, can be improved
through an understanding of the cognitive aspects of the work.
Even more analysis could be performed through additional research
methods, such as corpus studies. Court forms completed by litigants are
already collected by the hundreds of thousands in court automation
systems. With proper redaction of confidential information, such as names,
these could be accessed by cognitive linguists. In conjunction with court
information relating to outcomes of the cases and subsequent compliance,
such studies could be used to examine not only speech patterns, but also
user comprehension on a much larger scale.
Through its use in law, language has a very significant effect on
people’s lives and well-being. Further work on the cognitive linguistics
aspects of American divorce law, with its challenging interplay between
this specialist language and commonly understood general language, is
warranted.
References
ABA SCLAID. 2012. American Bar Association Standing Committee on
Legal Aid & Indigent Defendants, Standards for Language Access in
Courts. Chicago: American Bar Association, available at http://www.
americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/legal_aid_indigent_de
fendants/ls_sclaid_standards_for_language_access_proposal.authcheck
dam.pdf (last visited 1/13/2016).
Araúz, P., P. Faber, and S. Martínez. 2012. “Specialized Language
Semantics.” In A Cognitive Linguistics View of Terminology and
Specialized Language, edited by Pamela Faber, 96-175. Berlin:
Mouton De Gruyter.
Baker, J. 2011. “And the Winner Is: How Principles of Cognitive Science
Resolve the Plain Language Debate,” Suffolk University School of Law
Legal Studies Research Paper Series: Research Paper 11-33 (August
23, 2011): 1-21, also available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1915300.