TEACHING ENGLISH FOR GENERAL ACADEMIC PURPOSES V. TEACHING ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC ACADEMIC PURPOSES TO STUDENTS OF LAW: VIEWS OF ESP TEACHERS AND LAW LECTURERS

TEACHING ENGLISH FOR GENERAL ACADEMIC PURPOSES V. TEACHING ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC LEGAL

PURPOSES: VIEWS OF ESP TEACHERS AND LAW LECTURERS

Smaragda KampouriUniversity of Essex

Presentation Organisation

The presentation will be divided in the following sections:Wide-angled and Narrow-angled approach in teaching English to Students of Law.English Teachers’ perspectives on teaching English to students of Law.Discussion on English Teachers’ Perspectives.Law Lecturers’ perspectives on teaching English to students of Law.Discussion on Law Lecturers’ perspectives.Law Lecturers’ perspectives on Co-operation.

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Teaching English for Academic Legal Purposes or Teaching English forAcademic Purposes?English for law is a field that presents particular difficulties for the ESP teacher, due to the close interplay of content and language (Gibbons, 1999; Tiersma,1999).There are those who support a wide-angle approach to teach English for Academic Legal Purposes (EALP) (Spack,1988; Hutchinson & Waters,1987; Harris,1992; Blue,1988) and those who choose a narrow-angled approach (Hyland,2006).

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Wide Angle Approach to Teaching English for Academic Legal PurposesThe EAP teachersdeal with teaching general academic skills. Students with limited English Proficiency do not have any difficulty to attend the EAP class. The EAP teacher does not experience feelings of inferiority because (s)he doesn’t have to deal with the subject specific topics of other departments.EAP courses focus on common core (a common set of language forms) of skills.

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Narrow Angle Approach to Teaching English for Academic LEGAL PurposesA genre-based approach developed around:Cases (Bhatia:1989, 2002, 2003, 2004).Law reports which have also been analyzed by Badger (2003; 258)Problem–Question: Made-up legal problem. Students are expected to offer several possible solutions using legal arguments and counterarguments. (Howe,1990, 2003; Jensen,2002)Law specific language:a language of large-scale technicality, explored by Bhatia (2002) Candlin et al (2002) and Gibbons (1999). 5

Narrow Angle Approach to Teaching English for Academic LEGAL Purposes

To apply a Narrow Angle Approach to Teaching English for Academic Legal Purposes a kind of “working together” between the Language Teacher and the law lecturers would be beneficial.Jordan (2009, 253-254), Dudley –Evans and St.John (2005) claim that the liaison between the subject teacher and the English instructor can be of three forms:

Co-operation: Collaboration:Team-teaching:

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Liaison between Law–Lecturers and English Teachers in TeachingEnglish for Academic Legal Purposes Co-operation: It exists between the language teacher

and the department. It includes: - the provision of information - the provision of reading lists - assistance with materials - recording short talks on audio/video

cassette for teaching and self-access purposes - guest lecturers on EAP courses and follow-

up seminars Collaboration: It exists when the language teacher and

the subject teacher work together outside the classroom

Team-teaching: It is referred to the joint-teaching or sharing of teaching, attempted by both the subject specialist and the English tutor.

- The main role of the language teacher is to prepare the material for the session in co-operation with the subject teacher and to run the session together. (Dudley-Evans:2005: 225-226). 7

Scientists’ attitudes regarding EAP courses and teachersExperts are not always willing to co-operate with English Teachers. Barron’s study (2002) reports an unsuccessful collaborative attempt because of: the “ontological differences” between the two disciplines and lack of mutual respect between the scientists and the English Teachers (Science and Linguistics).

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Law Lecturers’ attitudes regarding EAP courses and teachersIn Northcott & Brown’s (2006) study, concerning cooperation between linguists, translators and lawyers, the attitudes that law experts held during the translation courses were attitudes of persistence to impose their own method of teaching the linguists to “think like Lawyers”.

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Research Questions In light of this research, the questions that the present study will try to solve are the following:1: Which are the EALP teachers’ perspectives on designing English courses for students of law? 2: Which are the Law Lecturers’ perspectives on designing courses for students of Law? 3:What are the Law Lecturers’ perceptions on working together with the EALP teachers and the Legal Department?

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Participants-English Teachers Three English Teachers for Academic Legal Purposes (EALPT) in the UK Universities:

• Had a 3 year experience in teaching English for Academic Legal Purposes

• Were qualified English Teachers with University Degrees or holders of certificates. One of them had a first degree in Law

• Two of whom belonged to the same University and taught to the same group of students.

• Taught the pre-sessional English course for the students who are about to attend the LL.M (Master of Law) course.

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Participants- Law Lecturers Three Law Lecturers (LL) in UK UniversityHad at least three years of experience lecturing in law.Each of them had a different specialization that was attained with further studies and research. Taught both undergraduate students and postgraduates in the same university.

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DATA COLLECTION• Semi-structured interviews on the informants’ perceptions about teaching English for Academic Legal Purposes.

• Prompt cards, which were used to direct and allow space for the informants to express their opinion.

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Prompt Card example:Does acquaintance with the English Legal System constituteprerequisite for the international students to attend your

course?

No. Therefore some of the course hours are devoted to introduction to the Legal System with the use of published materials that contain units devoted to this area.

No. Therefore some of the course hours are devoted to introduction to the Legal System with the use of in-house materials that contain units devoted to this area.

No. Nevertheless, the introduction to the English Legal System is taught by the Law Lecturer.

Yes. The course doesn’t have any involvement with teaching Introduction to the English Legal System.

Other (please specify)14

Specific or General English for Academic Purposes? EALP teachers’perceptionsThe EALP teachers who have been interviewed have all developed a course that is tailored both to the needs of their students and the requirements of the lecturers.During the interview, they made a description of their courses.As EALPT2 and EALPT3 work together in the same University, two model courses will be presented, one for EALPT1 and one for EALPT2 and EALPT3.

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MODEL 1 EALPT1 reported:“We expect students to read specified texts in preparation for class sessions and to be ready to discuss and explore ideas and language in those texts.” The specific Legal content is used as a basis for the practice of the four skills. “The course covers a quite narrow area of company law, quite a broad area of competition and antitrust law (Europe/USA) and one area of International and Human Rights”They (the students) are engaged in authentic tasks”.

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EALP teachers’ perceptions on Co-operation with the Law Lecturers Model Course 1“I am grateful and thankful to the Law lecturers who provided me with authentic materials and their perceptions and insights on the needs of the Law Students”. “There is not much regular contact between us and the school of law.... When they do come in, they only appear to do workshops at the end of the course.” (EALPT1)

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Model Course 2EALPT2 (who is the director of the English course) said: “Firstly, I talk to students, just to get a good idea of what they want, before coming into contact with the law lecturers. On the basis of this talk, their specific needs are revealed and consequently the course is designed”. EALPT3 added:“The course is focused on Maritime Law. The specificity and technicality of the subject-matter gives way to the development of in-house materials addressed to the needs of the students”. 19

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EALP teachers’ perceptions on Co-operation with Law Lecturers in Model Course 2The course has been developed in a collaborative fashion, between the EALP teachers and the Law Lecturers. “There is a mutually supportive relationship established since 2004. We love being over there (in the Law Department) and working together. We are always looking forward to starting the course”. (EALPT2) “You have to familiarize yourself with the students’ subject in some part …the guidance from Law Lecturers is very important [although] I hold a degree in general legal study”. (EALPT3) 21

Discussion on teaching Specific or General English for Academic Legal Purposes

All three EALP teachers interviewed, placed specificity in the heart of the course they designed.Therefore, all the EALP teachers rejected the option to use published textbooks :“A textbook would not fit the students needs as long as the content is concerned. The students would be motivated to study texts that have to do with the field of their specificity” (EALPT2).

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Specific or General English for Academic Purposes? Law Lecturers’perceptionsThe three Law lecturers expressed opposing views. Firstly, samples of tasks copied from published textbooks have been selected and presented to the law lecturers as a launch board to make them develop their ideas on teaching Legal English. All three participants were presented with a sample reading text whose content was technical and law-specific, nevertheless, opinions diverged.

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Specific or General English for Academic Purposes? Law Lecturers’perceptionsLL1 stated: “Of course, this text is

relevant to law and with the language and structures students encounter during their studies, but I think it would be useful to teach reading texts of general content…. Don’t focus on specific legal comprehension. […]Acquire a good degree of classical English! Fielding, Lord Chesterfield”.And (s)he added: “It is not necessary for people teaching English, to give students the specific legal perspective, which more often than not can be answered in 2 sentences. It would be more useful for the students to be taught about how to write a general essay …”

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Specific or General English for Academic Purposes? Law Lecturers’perceptionsLL2 shares the same view of LL1. “Make the students read more, which makes them get used to the flow of the language. Make them see how ideas are expressed in English and make them use the grammar and punctuation correctly….Some of them do not understand what they read or why they read it….” (LL2)

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Specific or General English for Academic Purposes? Law Lecturers’perceptionsLL3, on the other hand, emphasizing the importance of technical vocabulary stated: “To improve the students’ reading skills, the teacher should focus on law-related texts and legal terminology, as the students need a certain vocabulary to understand legal texts and language”. “It would be way more useful for students if they had some guidance on how to approach legal writing tasks from the language perspective.[…] If the content of the writing task is law-specific, then the students may be more motivated.”

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Discussion on teaching Specific or General English for Academic Legal PurposesThe law lecturers choose a clear-cut

distinction between the content of their course and the content of the English course supporting Spack’s viewpoint (1998: 40) that “English teachers cannot and should not be held responsible for teaching [subject-specific] skills in the disciplines.”Scientists are afraid that the language teacher may intrude into their domain, just like what Howe describes in the anecdote: “You teach them the English, Mrs. Howe, and we’ll teach them the law”. (Howe,1993: 148)

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Law lecturers’ perceptions on “working together” with the EALP teachersLaw lecturers were either:Totally unaware of the fact that English instructors teach legal specific language skills.

OrInterested in English for Academic Legal Purposes with emphasis on general academic skills. 31

Law lecturers’ perceptions on “working together” with the EALP teachers

“There should not even be law courses only dedicated to English teachers. English matters, substance is for us. There are no law prerequisites. If your students’ English is not good enough, do an English course. If you do not know the English legal system, take preliminary law class”. (LL1)LL1 added: “What you are doing is tremendously important. Law is English! Law is a language of its own and 95% of it is ordinary language use and nontechnical. Tackle the 95%It could be deducted that LL1’s perception, meets the tenets of the “ontological differences”, mentioned in (Barron,2002; Northcott and Brown, 2006).

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Law lecturers’ perceptions on co-operation with the EALP teachers

In support of the co-operation model that is based on the provision of materials in part of the Law Department, LL2 reported:

“I believe that the English teachers could benefit from that. The law Department could provide them with materials which can be used by the teachers, and which are not so subject –specific”

LL2 added: An English teacher would be useful for the students “to talk about structure, grammar and punctuation during some lectures.

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Law lecturers’ perceptions on co-operation with the EALP teachers

The third participant was in favour of team-teaching.

“Team teaching would, as far as I can see, be the best method. A close cooperation combined with a sensible division of lecturing may be more efficient than giving each other complicated advice. In this way the English teacher can be advised on legal terminology and texts, so that students can receive an additional training which focuses on language matters”.

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ConclusionsEALP teachers opt for an English course whose content is legal because the specific needs that students have cannot otherwise be addressedThe Law Lecturers are proponents of the design of a general English course aiming at developing general academic skills without a law-specific content.All the three lecturers interviewed expressed that they would be willing to co-operate with the EALP teachers either by providing them with materials (LL2) or by introducing a team-teaching scheme (LL3). Only LL1 expressed doubts about co-operating with the English teachers

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Pedagogical Applications

The results of this study can be used as a starting point for those English teachers who wish to design a course that is focused on students of Law.Given the specificity of the domain, it paves the way for co-operation between EAP teachers and experts with a view to achieving the same aim which is the designing of an English course in which content and language are interwoven.If resistance is noticed on the part of either side, as far as co-operation is concerned, the English Instructor might have no option but teach General skills in the realm of English for Academic Purposes.

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ReferencesBarron, C. (2002). Problem-Solving and EAP: themes and issues in a collaborative teaching venture. English for Specific Purposes, 22, 297-314Bhatia, V. K. (1989). Legislative Writing: A Case of Neglect in EA/OLP Courses. English for Specific Purposes, 8, 223-238.Bhatia, V. K. (1998). Generic Conflicts in Academic Discourse. In Inmaculada Fortanet, Santiago Posteguillo, Juan Carlos Palmer, Juan Francisco Coll (Eds.), Genre Studies in English for Academic Purposes (15-28). Universitat Jaume, Col·leccio Summa. Filologia / 9.Bhatia, V. K. (2003). Analysing Genre, Language Use in Professional Settings. Pearson Education, Longman.Bhatia, V. K. (2005). Worlds of Written Discourse, a Genre-Based View. ContinuumBlue , G. M. (1993). Nothing Succeeds Like Linguistic Competence: The Role of Language in Academic Success. In G.M Blue (Ed.), Language, Learning and Success (4-13). Modern English Publications.Candlin, C., Bhatia, V. K., & Jensen, C. (2002). Developing legal writing materials for English second language learners: problems and perspectives. English for Specific Purposes,21, 299-320.Dudley-Evans, T.& St. John, M. (2008). Developments in English for Specific Purposes: A multi disciplinary approach. CUP.Gibbons, J. (1999). Language and the Law. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 19, 156-173.Harris, S. (1992). Reaching Out in Legal Education: Will EALP Be There? English For Specific Purposes,11 (1), 19-32.Howe, P. (1990). The problem of the Problem Question in English for Academic Legal Purposes. English for Specific Purposes,9, 215-236.

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ReferencesHowe, P. (1993) . Planning a Pre-Sessional Course in English for Academic Legal Purposes. In G.M.Blue (Ed.), Language, Learning and Success: Studying through English (148-157).Modern English Publications.Hutchinson, T. & Water, A. (1989). English for Specific Purposes-A learning-centered approach. CUP.Hyland, K. (2006). English for Academic Purposes: An advanced resource book. Routledge Applied Linguistics.Hyland, K. (2002). Specificity revisited: how far should we go? English for Specific Purposes, 21, 385-395.Jensen, C., (2002). Legal Problem Questions: Analyzing Rhetorical Strategies Using “IRAC”. In Christofer N. Candlin (Ed.), Research and Practice in Professional Discourse (463-498). City University of Hong-Cong Press.Johns, T.F., Dudley-Evans, A. (1988). An Experiment in Team-Teaching of Overseas Postgraduate Students of Transportation and Plant Biology. In J. Swales (Ed.), Episodes In ESP: A source and reference book on the development of English for Science and Technology (141-153). Prentice Hall.Jordan, R.R. (2009). English for Academic Purposes: A guide and resource book for teacher. CUP.Northcott,J., Brown, G. (2006). Legal translator training: Partnership between teachers of English for legal purposes and legal specialists. English for Specific Purposes, 25, 358-375.Spack, R. (1988). Initiating ESL Students Into the Academic Discourse Community: How far should we go? TESOL Quarterly,22 (1), 29-51.Tiersma, P. (1999). Legal Language. Chicago: University of Chicago Press

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