English for Lawyers
The course “English for Lawyers” is an obligatory academic discipline, which is a logical continuation of studying English for professional purposes, and allows students to develop academic and professional English communication skills (oral and written) in the field of law. The goal is that over the course of two semesters, students will progress from being experienced readers and critics of English-language materials to authors of well-structured academic texts with data analysis, citations, and references to primary sources, as well as effective public speakers. The first module (1 semester) includes the following topics: Common law: reading and briefing cases; Finding appropriate law, principles of analytical writing; Paragraph writing; Writing a summary of an article; Alternative dispute resolution (ADR); E-mail etiquette: Do’s and Don’ts; Case law: reading cases by the European Court of Human Rights. Thus, students will be able to expand their vocabulary with professional lexicon, improve their grammar, business correspondence skills, and work with legal documentation. The second module (2nd semester) is devoted to the development of public speaking skills (introductory speeches to the court; reports on master’s thesis topics; discussions on the topics of colleagues’ speeches). The English language course program combines a thematic concept with a concept focused on the development of macro skills (reading, listening, writing, speaking) and micro skills (body language, gestures, empathy, summarizing, confrontation, evaluation, etc.). The course also introduces the concept of reflection, different types of feedback, and teaches students to formulate their own feedback on the results of their learning activities. It is a systematic yet flexible program that takes into account all the various factors that determine successful language improvement.
The systematic and comprehensive use of technical teaching aids, the main one being Distedu (https://distedu.ukma.edu.ua), makes the course accessible and flexible in a turbulent reality. The use of interactive methods, professional situational modeling, and the principles of Liberal Arts Education in the learning process prepares students to solve real-world problems in the field of law. The use of authentic materials (texts, audio, video) also contributes to the achievement of this goal.
In addition to NaUKMA faculty, international experts are involved in teaching the course, including visiting professors from American universities (Yale School of Law, Georgetown Law School, University of New York, Columbia Law School, Loyola University Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago, Fordham University) and leading specialists from international law firms (White & Case). Lectures, seminars, group or pair interaction with native speakers who are specialists in the field of law allow students to get closer to professional realities.
A prerequisite for studying the discipline is a level of English proficiency at B2/Upper-Intermediate (“independent user”), which allows students to feel confident in all types of speech activity within the given topics.
