<![CDATA[Legal English is often challenging for EFL learners due to its specialised terminology and distinct linguistic features (Nhac, 2021). While translanguaging is increasingly discussed as a pedagogical resource in EFL contexts, little is known about how learners engage with it in legal English vocabulary learning in Vietnam. Addressing this gap, this study investigates students’ perceptions and reported classroom practices in learning legal English vocabulary. Adopting a qualitative case study design, data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with ten purposively selected Legal English students at a Vietnamese university. The interviews were conducted in Vietnamese and analysed thematically. Results indicated that participants generally viewed translanguaging as a useful scaffold for enhancing conceptual understanding and supporting vocabulary retention. However, some expressed concerns about potential over-reliance on the first language. In practice, students reported using translanguaging strategically for collaborative meaning-making, clarifying complex legal concepts, and checking lexical accuracy before producing English output. Overall, the study highlights translanguaging as a facilitating but cautiously negotiated resource in legal English vocabulary learning. The findings contribute to ESP and translanguaging research by offering insights into learner agency and classroom language practices in a specialized Vietnamese context, with implications for more flexible multilingual pedagogy.]]>
