TEACHING LEGAL ENGLISH IN UZBEK CONTEXT: CHALLENGES OF TERMINOLOGY
Abstract
This paper investigates the challenges of teaching Legal English in the Uzbek context with particular attention to terminological complexity. As Uzbekistan strengthens its international legal, economic, and educational ties, English has become indispensable for legal professionals. However, Uzbek law students and lecturers face persistent difficulties related to terminological non-equivalence, semantic ambiguity, multilingual interference, and inadequate teaching resources. The study draws on corpus linguistics, comparative law, ESP and CLIL pedagogy, and pragmatic-semiotic approaches to examine these challenges in depth. Findings reveal that many Legal English terms (such as consideration, trust, and equity) lack equivalents in Uzbek civil law, while polysemous terms like charge, appeal, and claim pose difficulties for learners. Russian continues to exert influence, shaping students’ conceptual frameworks and leading to interference. The paper proposes methodological strategies including glossary projects, corpus-informed teaching, functional equivalence frameworks, and international harmonization with UN and EU terminology. The study concludes that effective teaching of Legal English terminology is not only a linguistic or pedagogical task but also a matter of national legal and cultural development.