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Introduction To International Legal English Teachers Book Sample PDF
Introduction To International Legal English Teachers Book Sample PDF
978-0-521-71203-3 - Introduction to International Legal English Teacher’s Book: A Course for Classroom or Self-Study Use
Jeremy Day
Excerpt
More information
1 A career in law
Teacher’s brief very carefully before the lesson. Try to pass on to the
students the responsibility for finding out what the terms
The first part of the unit offers a general introduction
mean, rather than trying to explain them yourself.
to studying law. It takes the syllabuses of university law
courses as its starting point. Listening 1 encourages students to question their
needs and expectations from a legal English course,
Law students in most countries study at the law
particularly with regard to the balance between work
department of a regular university. In Britain and most
on practical skills and talking about legal systems in
other common-law countries, law students typically study
various countries. An important feature of this book is its
for a Bachelor of Laws (LLB, or Legum Baccalaureus
emphasis on practical skills and helping students to talk
– the double L simply means that Legum is plural). After
about the legal systems in their own countries, not just
completion of this first degree, law students in the UK
English-speaking ones.
must then complete a postgraduate qualification before
becoming a qualified lawyer: either the Legal Practice The second part of the unit, Law in practice, uses the
Course (LPC), for those who want to become solicitors, case study of a graduate recruitment programme
dealing mainly with clients directly, or the Bar Vocational to introduce useful language skills for making
Course (BVC), for those who want to become barristers, presentations and writing summaries. Such programmes
representing clients in court. typically take the most promising graduates and support
them financially while they complete their studies.
An alternative to this normal route to becoming a lawyer
They are attractive to students, as they provide useful
in Britain is commonly known as a law conversion
work experience as well as financial support, and for
course. This course allows a graduate from a subject
employers they are a good way of attracting and training
other than law to convert to a law degree. This course,
talented employees.
also called a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) or
Common Professional Examination (CPE), is shorter Further information
than a full LLB course, as its students tend to bring with A good starting point for information on studying law
them useful knowledge from their first degrees. in various countries is Wikipedia. For example, the
The situation in the USA is different. There, students articles at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_
start law school after completion of a bachelor’s degree education_in_the_United_Kingdom; http://en.
(in any subject), which usually takes four years. After a wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Laws; and http://en.
further three years at law school, they then study for a wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_education.
state’s bar exam. Only when they have passed the bar LLB course outlines can easily be found on the
exam are they fully qualified lawyers. Internet by searching for ‘LLB’.
Reading 2 provides a sample of a syllabus for the Each country has its own system for training lawyers,
first two years at a US law school (in this case, the so it is a good idea to find out about studying law in
University of Honolulu). The syllabus lists a wide range your students’ countries. This can be done easily by
of legal terms and concepts, and as such offers an finding the website of important universities in the
excellent introduction to the topics that lawyers need to countries and checking the syllabuses for their law
understand. Although the exercises associated with this courses.
text encourage students not to check every unknown For more information on becoming a solicitor in the
word and to develop the skill of guessing meaning from UK, see http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/
context, there is none the less a danger for teachers becomingasolicitor/careerinlaw.law. For information
here that they may be expected to explain large on becoming a barrister, see
quantities of terminology. It is therefore essential that http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/trainingandeducation/
you read the text, plus the associated notes in this book, howtobecomeabarrister/.
(Do you have any experience of law clinics? How As a follow-up, tell students to work in pairs.
good at English should law graduates be?). One should look at the board and read the
➠ Answers
first part of a collocation to his/her partner
(e.g. intellectually). The other student, who
1 F Family law is usually an optional
may not look at the board, has to complete
course in the UK.
the collocation (e.g. stimulating). After a few
2 T
minutes, they should swap roles.
3 F Law clinics give law students the
opportunity to learn about the day-to- Suggested answers
day work of a lawyer. adverb–adjective intellectually stimulating
4 F Today, commercial law firms expect verb–preposition to lead to something; to
recruits to have a good command of decide on something; to get
English. involved with something
preposition–noun in addition
3 Elicit from the class the meaning of the word verb–noun to take a course/subject; to
collocation (= a pair or group of words which run a partnership; to offer a
are commonly used together), and a few course; to offer assistance;
everyday examples such as take a photo, to hire new recruits
interested in and fast asleep. Elicit why it is verb–verb to go on to become
important for learners of a language to pay something
attention to collocations [Suggested answer: adjective–noun future career; local
Correct use of collocations not only improves community; day-to-day work;
accuracy, sophistication and naturalness, a good command (of English)
but it also increases fluency, as there is noun–noun work experience
less need to choose each individual word
separately. Collocations are also important for
understanding, as certain words only make SB p9 Speaking 1: Law firms and
sense in the context of their collocations, e.g. courses
the word afford in the collocation can’t afford]. 4 Tell students to discuss the two questions
Tell students to look back at the text to find with a partner. If they already know each
five collocations beginning with the word legal other well, tell them to imagine they are
and five beginning with the word law. When asking and answering the questions at a job
they have finished, go through the answers interview. Encourage them to give background
with the class. information, as in the examples.
➠ Answers
legal writing, legal research, legal practice, SB p9 Reading 2: Course descriptions
legal assistance, legal community 5 Tell students to discuss the questions briefly
law degree programme, law student, law in pairs, and then open up the discussion to
practice, law clinic, law firm the whole class. The discussion could include
dealing with unfamiliar words in their own
Optional extension language, as well as in English. Encourage
Tell students to work in pairs to identify students to think of situations where each of
more useful collocations from Reading 1. the five techniques would be most useful.
Encourage them to find adverb–adjective,
verb–preposition, preposition–noun, verb–
➠ Suggested answer
noun, verb–verb, adjective–noun and noun– The best way to deal with unfamiliar words of
noun collocations. After a few minutes, collect course depends on many factors, including:
the answers on the board. You will need to First or second reading? As a general
use your discretion as to whether proposed rule, the first time you read a text, you
collocations are genuine word partnerships should read quickly to get a general
(i.e. if they commonly go together).
14
SB p12 Language use: Comparative and 14 Ask students to complete the task quickly. Go
through the answers with them, writing any
superlative forms incorrect responses on the board. At the end,
13 Elicit from the class the meaning of the terms focus on their mistakes and ask students
comparative and superlative, together with an to refer back to the rules in Exercise 13 to
everyday example such as big (base form), analyse the errors.
bigger (comparative), biggest (superlative).
Then tell them to match the sentences with ➠ Answers
the rules. Point out that there may be more 1 more practical 2 best
than one rule for each sentence. As you go 3 more challenging 4 more time-consuming
through the answers with the class, elicit 5 most useful 6 easier
more examples for each rule (see notes
below), especially adjectives that are useful
for describing courses and language skills SB p12 Speaking 2: Learning approaches
(e.g. interesting, helpful, memorable, boring,
15 Tell students to discuss the two questions in
theoretical, up-to-date, hands-on, challenging,
pairs or small groups. Make sure they realise
tough, nice, complicated).
that they should try to use comparatives and
➠ Answers superlatives in their conversations. If you feel
1 b 2 c 3 d, h 4 a 5 d 6 d 7 f they need further practice, you could ask them
8 g, h 9 e to compare the courses in Reading 2 (e.g. The
course on contracts would be more useful to
me than the one on evidence. The one on tort
Language notes seems to be the most complicated.).
Most one-syllable adjectives form their
When they have finished discussing in pairs,
comparatives and superlatives with –er/
discuss the topic with the whole class,
–est, but there are exceptions, especially
focusing this time on the content (i.e. what
adjectives formed from verbs (e.g. lost,
do the students have the biggest problems
bored, tired) and a few others (e.g. ill,
with) rather than the grammar. As a class, try
right, wrong), which need more/most.
to come up with solutions to the students’
There are three irregular adjectives in
perceived weaknesses.
English: good, better, best; bad, worse,
worst and far, further, furthest
(occasionally farther, farthest).
Unit 1 A career in law 17
GDL (Graduate Diploma in Law) is also ensure that everyone has the chance to
called the Common Professional interview and be interviewed.
Examination (CPE) or simply ‘law 2 Tell them to prepare four or five interview
conversion course’. See http://en. questions, using the advert in Reading
wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_ 3 for ideas. They may also ask tricky
Professional_Examination. (or humorous) questions to test their
interviewees’ knowledge of law and legal
17 Tell students to complete the exercise alone English, based on the technical terms in
and then check with a partner. As you collect Reading 2. Set a strict time limit for the
the answers from the class, discuss reasons question writing (e.g. five minutes).
for the answers. 3 One member of each group should change
groups to be interviewed. The aim is to
➠ Answers get the job, so students can lie as much
1 Andrea wouldn’t be suitable for Barker as necessary, as long as they do it
Rose, as they only work in the field of convincingly. Again set a strict time limit
commercial law. (e.g. two minutes).
2 Although Sandip only got a 2.2, the 4 The interviewed students should return
advertisement says that Barker Rose to their original groups, while a second
are willing to progress candidates whose member of each group goes for an
application otherwise demonstrates first- interview with another group. After three
rate personal qualities and experience. rounds of interviews, the original groups
He might be considered suitable due should get back together to decide which
to his proven business skills and was the best candidate they interviewed,
experience, but we cannot be certain. and whether to offer that candidate a place
3 Meral wouldn’t be suitable, as candidates on the Graduate Recruitment Programme.
must apply by 31st July, two years before
the start of the training contract, and she
wants to start next year. SB p14 Writing: Short email
4 Oren would be suitable. Barker Rose 19 Tell students to read the task and discuss
accept students of any discipline. with a partner how they would structure their
writing (i.e. what order to mention the points,
18 Discuss the two questions with the whole how to organise them into paragraphs, etc.).
class. If the recruitment programme is The writing can be done at home or in class.
unsuitable for your students (e.g. because (See section on Writing, page 8.)
they already work in law, or they are already
studying law), discuss the sort of people to
whom it would be of interest. For question 2, SB p14 1.2
1.3
Listening 2: Graduate
point out that, according to the advert, there recruitment programme
will be a presentation on the recruitment 20 Tell students to read the introduction and
programme at a Law Fair, where asking the six statements, and then elicit from the
intelligent questions would be a good way class who would attend such a presentation
to start talking to representatives of the [Answer: potential candidates for the Graduate
firm. You may need to suggest one or two Recruitment Programme]. Then tell them to
suitable questions (e.g. What is your policy on listen to the recording to decide whether the
graduates from outside the UK? What level of statements are true (T) or false (F). Point
English do you require?). out that sometimes there is not enough
information to decide, in which case they
Optional extension
should write NC (not clear). After listening, tell
1 Divide the class into groups of three. Each
them to discuss their answers with a partner,
group will conduct interviews for the Barker
including any other information they remember
Rose Graduate Recruitment Programme. If
from the recording. Finally, check the answers
the class does not divide easily into groups
with the class.
of three, allow groups of different sizes, but
Unit 1 A career in law 19