Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Cours D'anglais Droit g3 2021 2022
Cours D'anglais Droit g3 2021 2022
Cours D'anglais Droit g3 2021 2022
COURSE OUTLINE
IV. Cognates 15
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- Text 1: The place and scope of geology
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- Text 2: Contract and contract law
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- Text 3: Court
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- Text 4: Will English become entrenched as
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- Text 5: English criminal law
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- Text 7: Trial
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- Text 8: Crime
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- Text 9: Lawyer
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- Text 10: International criminal law
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I. INTRODUCTION
The general aim of this course is to initiate students into practising technical
text interpretation in the light of reading strategies. It can be detailed in specific objectives
along the course outlines as follows:
- Guessing meanings from context: to initiate students into techniques of English for
Academic Reading;
- Affixes and word meanings: to improve students’ ability in identifying word meanings
through the knowledge of prefixes, suffixes and word stems as well as ;
- Cognates: to help students rely on their knowledge of French to guess at the meanings
of English words;
- Indefinite pronouns: to help students distinguish the meanings and use of these
grammatical categories;
- Expressing some speech acts: to improve students’ ability in using language
communicatively;
- Reading comprehension: to practise reading strategies in interpreting technical texts,
and to familiarize students with the register of law in English;
2. Methodology
In order to achieve these objectives, the following methods will be used: (a) direct and
audio-aural methods to encourage students to speak English, (b) interactive method to
make them practise English with their classmates, and (c) oral presentations to guide
students to use English in public.
3. Evaluation
Given the large size of the class, students will be evaluated on the basis of written
individual and collaborative tasks, one quiz, one oral presentation and the final exam.
Lecture attendances will also be taken into account.
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1. Vocabulary interpretation
When the reader encounters a new word, he can do the following in order to
understand it:
a) Use a dictionary
Depending on the context, the reader can use a bilingual (French-English) or a
monolingual (English alone) dictionary. The bilingual dictionary gives the translation of the
word whereas the monolingual dictionary supplies either the definition or the explanation of
the word. This technique is very simple and helps the learner to solve his comprehension
problem quickly. However, the user must learn meaning discriminations which are shown in
parentheses ( ) or in brackets [ ] in order to know the context in which to use such or such a
translation.
Louer1 [lwe] v.tr. 1. (a) to hire, rent, let, (out) (à, to); maison à l.,
house to let; l. une ferme à bail, to lease out a farm; (b) (of farmland)
se l. pour la saison, to engage oneself for the season. 2. To rent
(house, etc.) (à, from); to reserve, book (seat, etc.); l. une maison
pour l’été, to take a house for the summer; cet appartement se loue
très cher, this flat is very expensive to rent.
Louer2 1. v.tr. to praise; to commend; l. qn de, pour, qch., to praise
s.o. for sth.; louons le seigneur! Dieu soit loué thank God! 2. se l.
d’avoir fait qch., to congratulate oneself upon having done sth.; Se l.
de qch., to be pleased, well satisfied, with sth; je n’ai qu’à me l. de
lui, I have nothing but praise for him. (Harrap’s Shorter).
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This strategy requires that the reader relies on some context elements such as words, phrases,
punctuation marks. They can take one of these forms:
1. Definition
A word may be formally defined, or the sentence itself may contain enough
explanation to make the meaning easy to find:
E.g. Urbanism – the city dweller’s way of life – has preoccupied
sociologists since the 19th century.
The use of an incisive structure in dashes shows the definition of the first word urbanism.
2. Consequence/Results
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3. Cause/effect relationship
We can see a cause/effect relationship that will help us identify a word’s meaning:
E.g. The book was lying open on the table. Because it looked interesting,
Mary perused it while she waited.
4. Reason
The knowledge of the reason can also help guess at the meaning of the word:
E.g. Pamela is barren; that is why she has no baby since she married.
Women who do not give birth are sterile; therefore barren should mean ‘sterile’.
5. Contrast/opposition
When two words are contrasted, if the meaning of one of them is known, this
helps to explain the meaning of the other:
E.g. The question was important to the child, but it appeared trivial to the
teacher.
The connective but contrasts important to trivial (therefore, not important).
6. Comparison
Often a comparison is expressed that can help us guess at the meanings of a word:
E.g. At first the road might be well, yet after many years of use, it will be
bumpier.
When a road is used for many years, it deteriorates (= with bumps).
2. Sentence interpretation
a) Sentence Analysis
Sentence analysis can be used in order to find out the relationship among
words. Such is particularly the case with complex noun modification:
2. Students’ general meeting recall : the notice about the recall of the general
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N.B.: In English, complex nouns are processed (analyzed) from right to left,
apart from adjectives which remain in front of the nouns that they modify.
EXERCISE
Commas, parentheses, colons and other punctuation marks can also give us clues to
the meaning of a word:
E.g. The sand provides the silica; the soda ash, the soda.
The semi-colon (;) replaces and, while the comma (,) replaces the verb provides:
The sand provides the silica and the soda provides soda.
Scientific writing uses grammatical words such as pronouns (he, she, it, they),
demonstrative words (those, these, that, this), relative pronouns (which, that, whom etc), other
pro-forms (the latter, the former, so etc.)They should be able to find the relationship between
a word and its co-referent, that is, a word which refers to it:
E.g. Two other kinds of printers are thermal printers and laser printers. The
former use heat print output on paper and the latter use a letter-strong beam of
light.
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Sequence : at first, first, second, eventually, later on, after a short time etc.
Condition : if, when, on condition that, suppose that, unless, provided, suppose
that, supposing that
Contrast/opposition : but, though, although, even though, still, yet, however, whereas etc.
Examples and : for example, for instance, that is, namely, such as etc.
restatements
Addition : and, also, as well as, and also, besides, apart from, in addition,
moreover, furthermore etc.
EXERCISE
7. Paragraph analysis
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Sometimes a student can understand all the sentences in the reading material
and yet not be able to understand the whole text. He should therefore learn to recognize the
organization and presentation of information in the passage. He should learn to recognize: 1)
the topic, 2) the main idea, 3) the major supporting details and the minor supporting details.
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2.1. COGNATES
Cognates are words found in two different languages but which are similar in
form and often also in meaning. Most of the time, they also have the same origin. Yet, for the
teaching purposes, all words which look alike in two different languages can be considered as
cognates because the learner treats them in the same way in his effort to retrieve their
meanings.
There are two types of cognates: 1) true cognates and 2) false or deceptive
cognates. The former have the same meanings in both languages (e.g. Observation in English
and French). The latter have similar forms but different meanings (e.g. the French librairie
‘bookshop’ and the English library ‘bibliothèque’).
A. TRUE COGNATES
In fact, there are many similarities between English and French nouns, verbs, and adjectives
etc. which facilitate meaning guess. There are correspondences among many suffixes in both
languages which can free the learner from using a dictionary:
Verbs ending in –ate Verbs ending in –er Suffix –an/ian Suffix in –ien
To tolerate Tolérer Zambian Zambien
Verbs ending in - ǿ Verbs ending in –er Suffix in –ese Suffix in –ois, -ais
To resist Resister Chinese, Togolese, Chinois, togolais,
Japanese japonais
B. DECEPTIVE COGNATES
Deceptive cognates or false cognates are words which look alike but have different meanings.
Some of them have completely different meanings whereas others have two meanings: one
being similar to French/English, and another being very different (partially deceptive
cognates).
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Some acts are most often specific ways of using language in order to express politeness
MAKING OFFERS
It is common that English speakers make offers in conversations in order to be polite and
helpful. When they do so they use these expressions:
Can I …?
Shall I …?
Would you like …?
How about …?
Making offers:
Can I Help you?
Shall Get you some juice?
Would you like A glass of water?
How about Some pizza?
Responding to offers
Accepting Declining
Examples:
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EXPRESSING OBLIGATION
When it's necessary or obligatory to do something, you express obligation.
OBLIGATION IN THE PRESENT:
• I have to finish my work before this evening.
• I have got to learn English if I want to live in the USA.
• I must see the doctor soon because I don't feel well.
• It is obligatory that I shop when the traffic light turn red.
• It is necessary that I take a taxi. I'm late.
Obligation in the past:
• I had to work extra hours to pray my bills.
Obligation in the future:
• I'll have to borrow money
EXPRESSING PROHIBITION
To express prohibition the following expressions are used
To express prohibition you can use:
• It is prohibited to... • You aren't permitted to...
• You aren't allowed to... • It is forbidden to...
• You musn't...
Examples :
• Parking is strictly prohibited between these gates
• Students aren't allowed to come too late to school
• Drives mustn't park their cars here
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To express that someone has the power or skill to do something, can and able are used.
Examples:
I can’t help you. I am busy.
I’m unable to help you.
When I was young I was able to earn my living pretty well; I could work hard. Now I
can’t. I’m too old.
Notice: Can in the past is was able or could, but will be able to in the future
Examples:
When I was young I was able to earn my living pretty well.
Now I can’t; I’m too old.
I couldn’t hear what he was saying.
When I finish my studies, I will be able to find a job.
When you ask for permission to use something that belongs to someone else you have to do
your best to be polite. It is desirable to use the word “please.”
Asking for permission:
Can I go out, please?
May I open the window, please?
Please, can I have a look at your photo album?
Please, may I taste that hot spicy couscous dish?
Do you mind if I smoke?
Would you mind if I asked you something?
Is it okay if I sit here?
Would it be all right if I borrowed your mobile phone?
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EXPRESSIONS
If you’ve ever signed up for a mobile phone, booked hotel room, or accepted a job offer,
you’ve made a contract. And there are several key aspects of every contract, beginning with
the intent to make one, an offer, and consideration for both sides.
Agreement on the specific elements of a contract leads to acceptance, at which point the
contract is legally binding to both parties. Of course, the parties must have made truthful
representations in the course of their negotiations.
A contract may also be threatened when one party does not fulfill its obligations, which can
lead to repudiation. There is also a situation of frustration when a contract cannot be
fulfilled for unforeseen reasons. When the two parties under contract cannot agree, they may
try to settle their dispute through a process of arbitration.
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If this doesn’t work, one party may attempt to sue the other in court, hoping to be awarded
damages in the case of a breach of contract.
VOCABULARY
E.g. Under John’s employment contract, he gets three weeks of vacation every year.
Intent: having the intent to make a contract means that you actually want to make one.
Without intent on both sides, there can be no contract.
E.g. While Tabitha wanted to make some sort of deal, Ron had no intent.
Offer: when you propose a contract, you are making an offer. That offer may be accepted,
rejected, or amended and sent back as a counteroffer.
E.g. The company lawyers sent the offer to the competitor’s legal team.
Consideration: every contract must include something of value however small, for both
sides.
E.g. Ben felt that the deal didn’t include enough consideration for his party.
Acceptance: it happens when both sides agree on a contract. Once the offer or contract is
formally accepted, the agreement becomes legal.
Party: the parties in a contract are those who are agreeing to do something. Each part may be
a person, a group of people, a business, or another type of organization.
E.g. Because the two parties couldn’t agree on costs, they failed to make a deal.
Any time you make a statement of fat in a contract or in negotiating a contract, you are
making a representation.
E.g. The judge decided that Orel Inc.’s representations were truthful and accurate.
Frustration: frustration of a contract happens when the contract cannot be fulfilled for
reasons beyond anyone’s control. Frustration is not the fault of either party.
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E.g. Frustration of the contract came about when it was found to violate trade agreements.
To settle a dispute: when contracted parties can’t agree, they have a dispute. Finding a
solution to their disagreement is referred to as ‘settling the dispute’. They may do it in or
out of court.
E.g. It took the US and Canada years to settle their dispute over tobacco taxes.
Arbitration: contracted parties that have a disagreement will usually try to reach a solution
out of court through arbitration.
E.g. Wanting to avoid a costly legal battle, the two companies agreed to arbitration.
If the contracted parties can’t settle their dispute through arbitration, they may go to court. In
this case, a judge may award damages usually in the form of money to the party that is able
to prove their claim.
E.g. The judge awarded damages to the complainant after a lengthy court case.
1. I met with the buyer in the lawyer’s office to sign the …………………………………
2. We wanted to settle the ……………………………….... out of court to save money.
3. I decided to refuse the …………………………….. because the price wasn’t right.
4. A contract becomes legal immediately after ……………………….………………. .
5. We celebrated when the judge decided to award us ……………………………………
EXERCISE
1. Find the topic of this text (see the first line of the first paragraph).
2. Identify the main idea of the text (what action is taking place).
3. Read some sentences in order to identify signal words and their
meanings.
4. Give some examples of contracts you have made in your life.
5. When can a contract be threatened?
6. What is the difference between arbitration and damages?
Text 3: Court
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EXERCISE
1. Find the topic of this text (see the first line of the first paragraph).
2. Identify the main idea of the text (what action is taking place).
3. Read some sentences in order to identify signal words and their meanings.
4. Why do people bring their claims before the court?
5. How is the system of courts called?
6. What is a venue?
My point can be made in quite a simple way, with a facetious question: Why
have I not used the correct Japanese name for “the International Criminal Court”, and why are
not the ICC judges, jurists, prosecutors and defendants all conducting their cases in Japanese?
Some will be quick—presumably Japanese jurists quickest of all—to assure me that all ICC
business is inspectable in Japanese, that everything such an international body says and does
is made available in Japanese, and indeed that where a Japanese judge or legal agent is
involved, some of the opinion writing or testimony may have originated in Japanese.
Actually it was only in July of this year, 2007, that Japan fully joined the ICC, so some of the
court’s documentation may not yet be easily available in Japanese!
There is no clash of languages, but a maintenance of each in parallel with all
the others. If English appears to predominate in some kinds of practical matters, this is for
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purely pragmatic reasons and therefore in a sense arbitrary: if the world had turned out
differently the pragmatic language choice could have been Spanish or Esperanto or Mandarin
or Hindi… I believe these answers leave some things out of the account, concerning the non-
arbitrary implications where a particular language and its shaping discourses emerges by
default as the adopted solution to a pragmatic communicational challenge.
EXERCISE
1. Find the topic of this text (see the first line of the first paragraph).
2. Identify the main idea of the text (what action is taking place).
3. Read some sentences in order to identify signal words and their meanings.
4. What is law according to Hart?
5. What does Austin say about law?
6. How does Dworkin describe law?
English criminal law refers to the body of law in the jurisdiction of England and Wales
which deals with crimes and their consequences, and which is complementary to the civil law
of England and Wales.
Criminal acts are considered offences against the whole of a community. The state, in
addition to certain international organizations, has responsibility for crime prevention, for
bringing the culprits to justice, and for dealing with convicted offenders. The police, the
criminal courts and prisons are all publicly funded services, though the main focus of criminal
law concerns the role of the courts, how they apply criminal statutes and common law, and
why some forms of behaviour are considered criminal.
The English legal system is common within other Commonwealth states, notably
Australia, although government legislative practices and rare legal procedures, example being
court hierarchy, may differ to both a significant and minor extent.
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The fundamentals of a crime are known as the actus reus and the mens rea. These two
Latin terms mean "guilty act" (doing that which is prohibited) and "guilty mind" (i.e. the
intent to commit the crime). The traditional view is that moral culpability requires that one
should have recognized or intended that one was acting wrongly.
Defences exist to some crimes. A person who is accused may in certain circumstances
plead they are insane and did not understand what they were doing, that they were not in
control of their bodies, they were intoxicated, mistaken about what they were doing, acted in
self-defence, acted under duress or out of necessity, or were provoked. These are issues to be
raised at trial, for which there are detailed rules of evidence and procedure to be followed.
EXERCISE
1. Find the topic of this text (see the first line of the first paragraph).
2. Identify the main idea of the text (what action is taking place).
3. Read some sentences in order to identify signal words and their
meanings.
4. In what countries is English criminal law used?
5. Does it apply in commonwealth states?
6. Give two reasons that a suspect can plead.
The rule of law is the legal principle that law should govern a nation, as opposed to
being governed by arbitrary decisions of individual government officials. It primarily refers to
the influence and authority of law within society, particularly as a constraint upon behaviour,
including behaviour of government officials. The phrase can be traced back to 16 th century
Britain, and in the following century the Scottish theologian Samuel Rutherford used the
phrase in his argument against the divine right of kings. The rule of law was further
popularized in the 19th century by British jurist A. V. Dicey. The concept, if not the phrase,
was familiar to ancient philosophers such as Aristotle, who wrote "Law should govern".
Rule of law implies that every citizen is subject to the law, including law makers
themselves. In this sense, it stands in contrast to an autocracy, dictatorship, or oligarchy
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where the rulers are held above the law. Lack of the rule of law can be found in both
democracies and dictatorships, for example because of neglect or ignorance of the law, and
the rule of law is more apt to decay if a government has insufficient corrective mechanisms
for restoring it.
EXERCISE
1. Find the topic of this text (see the first line of the first paragraph).
2. Identify the main idea of the text (what action is taking place).
3. Read some sentences in order to identify signal words and their meanings.
4. What is rule of law opposed to?
5. What does rule of law imply?
6. Who popularized the phrase rule of law in the 19th century?
Text 7: Trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the
form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or
disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, which may occur before a judge, jury,
or other designated Trier of fact, aims to achieve a resolution to their dispute.
A criminal trial is designed to resolve accusations brought (usually by a government)
against a person accused of a crime. In common law systems, most criminal defendants are
entitled to a trial held before a jury. Because the state is attempting to use its power to deprive
the accused of life, liberty, or property, the rights of the accused afforded to criminal
defendants are typically broad. The rules of criminal procedure provide rules for criminal
trials.
A civil trial is generally held to settle lawsuits or civil claims—non-criminal disputes.
In some countries, the government can both sue and be sued in a civil capacity. The rules of
civil procedure provide rules for civil trials.
EXERCISE
1. Find the topic of this text (see the first line of the first paragraph).
2. Identify the main idea of the text (what action is taking place).
3. Read some sentences in order to identify signal words and their meanings.
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Text 8: Crime
In ordinary language, the term crime denotes an unlawful act punishable by a state. The
term "crime" does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted
definition, though statutory definitions have been provided for certain purposes. The most
popular view is that crime is a category created by law; in other words, something is a crime
if declared as such by the relevant and applicable law. One proposed definition is that a crime
or offence (or criminal offence) is an act harmful not only to some individual or individuals
but also to a community, society or the state ("a public wrong"). Such acts are forbidden and
punishable by law.
The notion that acts such as murder, rape and theft are to be prohibited exists
worldwide. What precisely is a criminal offence is defined by criminal law of each country.
While many have a catalogue of crimes called the criminal code, in some common law
countries no such comprehensive statute exists.
The state (government) has the power to severely restrict one's liberty for committing a
crime. In modern societies, there are procedures to which investigations and trials must
adhere. If found guilty, an offender may be sentenced to a form of reparation such as a
community sentence, or, depending on the nature of their offence, to undergo imprisonment,
life imprisonment or, in some jurisdictions, execution.
Usually, to be classified as a crime, the "act of doing something criminal" (actus reus)
must – with certain exceptions – be accompanied by the "intention to do something criminal"
(mens rea).
While every crime violates the law, not every violation of the law counts as a crime.
Breaches of private law (torts and breaches of contract) are not automatically punished by the
state, but can be enforced through civil procedure.
EXERCISE
1. Find the topic of this text (see the first line of the first paragraph).
2. Identify the main idea of the text (what action is taking place).
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3. Read some sentences in order to identify signal words and their meanings.
4. Does crime have one universally accepted definition? Why?
5. What is the proposed definition of crime in this text?
6. What is the Latin for “intention to do something criminal”?
Text 9: Lawyer
EXERCISE
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1. Find the topic of this text (see the first line of the first paragraph).
2. Identify the main idea of the text (what action is taking place).
3. Read some sentences in order to identify signal words and their
meanings.
4. Why does the meaning of the term “lawyer” vary from place to place?
5. What is the English for avocat (in Quebec)?
6. Is ‘lawyer’ a protected title in England?
How will this proceed in practice? Take any key term or phrase, such as
torture or controlling mind or recklessness. Of course, there will be equivalent or near-
equivalent terms to these, in the other legal traditions that will feed into international law.
But how likely will it be for a Chinese or Japanese definition and conception of recklessness
to take hold in international legal jurisprudence where the latter is primarily articulated in
English, with the entire framework of English language legal definitions and discourses
shaping it? Nor is the difficulty, this weighted harmonization, one that applies only to the
worldwide institutions such as the international criminal court.
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EXERCISE
1. Find the topic of this text (see the first line of the first paragraph).
2. Identify the main idea of the text (what action is taking place).
3. Read some sentences in order to identify signal words and their meanings.
4. Give some examples of torture in the Congolese criminal law.
5. Give some examples of controlling mind in the Congolese criminal law.
6. Why is English more used than Chinese in international criminal law?
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Ioffe, O. S. and M. W. Janis. 1987. Soviet Law and Economy. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
Martin, E. A. 2003. Oxford Dictionary of Law. Seventh Edition. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Thomson, A. J. and A. V. Martinet. 1980. A Practical English Grammar: Exercises 2. New
Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Victoria Law Foundation. 2021. A Plain Language Guide to Common Legal Terms.
Melbourne: Victoria Law Foundation.
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