Investigating lexical barriers and pedagogical misalignment in legal English learning in Kosovo

This study investigated challenges in learning legal English (English for Legal Purposes; ELP) in Kosovo’s civil-law context using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design grounded in ESP needs analysis. Phase 1 surveyed 100 first-year law students and summarized perceived difficulty, confidence, support or resources, and pedagogy using frequencies and percentages. Phase 2 used six 60-minute classroom observations across three parallel classes over a four-week period and a document analysis of 27 officially used course materials (2018–2023) to contextualize the survey patterns. Students most often reported (a) lexical and conceptual barriers linked to system-bound terminology and common-law-oriented materials, and (b) pedagogical constraints, including uneven localization, limited structured practice opportunities for speaking and writing, and perceived shortages in institutional support. Across the integrated evidence, course effectiveness may be strengthened by localized materials (e.g., text-aligned terminology scaffolds and guided civil-law mapping) and by consistent task cycles for speaking and writing that include rehearsal, feedback, and revision. These findings offer directly applicable implications for curriculum designers and ESP practitioners in similar contexts.