Popularization and dissemination of legal knowledge in EU Summaries of Directives on immigration and asylum

This study attempts to provide some new insights with reference to institutional discourse, specifically with regard to the dissemination of legal knowledge in Summaries of EU legislation within the areas of freedom, security and justice. The Summaries, which are retrievable from the EU website (http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/index_en.htm), have been examined with reference to relevant Directives issued between 2003 and 2005. The investigation was carried out following the main steps outlined here: 1) an analysis of structural and linguistic components of both Summaries and Directives in order to define the language of popularization vis-à-vis specialized language; 2) an analysis of features of EU Summaries in order to define the genre to which they belong; 3) an analysis of modal auxiliaries in the Summaries and the Directives, specifically WILL, MAY and SHALL, in an attempt to investigate issues of power and control ‘operationalised’ by the EU in addressing a non-specialist audience with reference to the acceptance of migrants and the granting of human rights. Thiis study, which follows a qualitative-quantitative approach, mainly draws upon genre analysis and popularization (Bhatia 1998, 2004; Gotti 2003; Hilgartner 1990; Swales 1990; Whitley 1985), Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough 1989, 2003) and studies on modality (Hoye 1997; Palmer 1979, 1986, 2001) applied to legal discourse (Engberg/Heller 2008; Endicott 2000, 2005; Bhatia et al. 2005; Williams (2005) 2007, 2006). AntConc 3.2.1 is the software used to search for specific words and phrases. The investigation has revealed the primary role of purpose in relation to audience and enhancement of power and control of the authority in a popularization.