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Language education for law professionals

Abstract

Increasing globalisation has led to English becoming the lingua franca of international legal practice requiring L2 legal professionals to develop high level skills in English thus creating significant challenges for language educators who may not have a background in law. This article provides an overview of language education for L2 legal professionals. Developments and practice in English for Legal Purposes (ELP) viewed within English for Specific Purposes (ESP) are presented to provide a model focusing on the interrelated dimensions of learner context, methodology and teacher background. I acknowledge the contribution of genre studies in providing pedagogical descriptions of written legal language and stress the need for further ethnographic investigation to identify and describe relevant oral legal genres.

Abstract

Increasing globalisation has led to English becoming the lingua franca of international legal practice requiring L2 legal professionals to develop high level skills in English thus creating significant challenges for language educators who may not have a background in law. This article provides an overview of language education for L2 legal professionals. Developments and practice in English for Legal Purposes (ELP) viewed within English for Specific Purposes (ESP) are presented to provide a model focusing on the interrelated dimensions of learner context, methodology and teacher background. I acknowledge the contribution of genre studies in providing pedagogical descriptions of written legal language and stress the need for further ethnographic investigation to identify and describe relevant oral legal genres.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. The language of the law
  5. The nature of legal language 7
  6. Language education for law professionals 27
  7. The language and communication of jury instruction 47
  8. Policespeak 67
  9. Legal translation 95
  10. Part II. The language of the court
  11. Questioning in common law criminal courts 115
  12. Bilingual courtrooms: In the interests of justice? 131
  13. The silent witness: Pragmatic and literal interpretations 161
  14. Language and disadvantage before the law 179
  15. Interpreting for the minority 197
  16. Part III. Forensic linguistic evidence
  17. Approaching questions in forensic authorship analysis 215
  18. Trademarks and other proprietary terms 231
  19. Deception and fraud 249
  20. Plagiarism 265
  21. Contributors 301
  22. Language index 307
  23. Subject index 309
Dimensions of Forensic Linguistics
This chapter is in the book Dimensions of Forensic Linguistics
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.5.04nor

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I. The language of the law
  5. The nature of legal language 7
  6. Language education for law professionals 27
  7. The language and communication of jury instruction 47
  8. Policespeak 67
  9. Legal translation 95
  10. Part II. The language of the court
  11. Questioning in common law criminal courts 115
  12. Bilingual courtrooms: In the interests of justice? 131
  13. The silent witness: Pragmatic and literal interpretations 161
  14. Language and disadvantage before the law 179
  15. Interpreting for the minority 197
  16. Part III. Forensic linguistic evidence
  17. Approaching questions in forensic authorship analysis 215
  18. Trademarks and other proprietary terms 231
  19. Deception and fraud 249
  20. Plagiarism 265
  21. Contributors 301
  22. Language index 307
  23. Subject index 309
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