Legal English: an opportunity for an

additional qualification among ESP

courses

Jasmina Djordjevic
Higher education institution
“Academic Studies of Law and Business Dr Lazar Vrkatic”
Novi Sad
djordjevic.jasmina@gmail.com
Summary
Problem: a) Aspiration for membership in the EU implies following the
trend of an increasing internationalisation in various areas of
knowledge
b) A completely new demand for specifically educated and
skilled professionals.

Hypothesis: 1) More employees with a secure command of the English legal

language may expect to have a distinct competitive advantage.
2) Legal English (LE) courses will have to provide a high-level
certificated English language qualification guaranteeing
specific LE capabilities to prospective employers or education
providers.

Aim: 1) Draw attention to the fact that a course in LE must be based

on the premises that it enables the ability to understand spoken
and written English within the context of law.
2) LE courses should enable the practice and application of LE
in a number of realistic contexts: discussions of legal matters,
client interviews, negotiations, contract clauses, corporate
documentation, commercial statutes, legal opinions, etc.
Introduction
1. A historical review of the origin of legal English shows: the practice
of expressing legal concepts in the English language did not start
prior to the second half of the XV century. (Woodbine, 1943: 399)

2. Legal concepts were expressed in French. (Emerson, 1935: 72-73)

Example 1: The Statute of Pleading (1362) was enacted in French
although its primary purpose was to establish the practice of
conducting all legal proceedings in English whereas the records
should be in Latin.
Example 2: Force majeure clause
“Neither party shall be liable to the other for failure to perform or
delay in the performance of its obligations caused by any
circumstances beyond its reasonable control.”
(a total of 28 words: 11 lexical words are Old French or Latin
17 are Old English)
 The gradual development of LE
1) Wills were written in English after 1400
2) Statutes were written in French until 1485
3) Only after 1489 was the practice of writing legal documents in English a
rather regular practice.
4) XVI and XVII ct: a slow transition from French and Latin dominated
legalese in the English courts lead to the end of the foreign language
domination.
5) In 1731 a new English-for-lawyers law was passed. (Mellinkoff, 1963: 134)
6) By 1733, it had been modified to suit the customary legal practice in terms
of technical words. (ibid.)
7) Conclusion: Until the present day, French and Latin have not been rooted
out; they are present in modern LE but in an adapted form following the
standards of the pronunciation and orthography of the modern English
language.
The context of study
1. LE was initially designed for non-native speakers of
English who would attend a study programme at some
law school or university in an English-speaking
country.
2. These courses focused on the use of the English
language within a legal context - language classes with
emphasis on the legal profession.
3. The establishment of English for the specific purpose of
law (ESP for law) came into being only in the second
half of XX century.
 Important conclusions to draw
An ESP approach requires:
1.A willingness on the part of the language educator to
familiarize with academic and occupational areas that
may be completely unknown
2.The language instructor in a particular ESP area will
need to develop a close-to-expert level of knowledge in
the particular area of ESP they are teaching in order to
be able to design a proper course based on the exact
extent to which the purposes of the particular target
discourse community are to be taught. (Belcher, 2006)
LE at tertiary level (both for
students of law and English language students)
Aims a) teach SS the structure and system of law based on a particular set of
legal terminology, register and style
b) enable SS to identify and work with the meanings and structures
within particular national systems when intersecting in an
international context or the international legal system as a whole
Objectives a) SS develop language competences for the purpose of reading,
writing, speaking and, if necessary, translating in the context of the
international law
b) SS familiarize with separate areas of law quite common in an
international context (different aspects and areas of the law, ranging
from criminal procedures, contractual relationships, property issues,
intellectual property infringement to incorporation of companies in
a foreign country)
Outcome a) SS acquire the necessary legal concepts within each topic
b) SS learn how to express their own thoughts and ideas based on the
particular register and style related to each of the defined topics
c) SS have a clear understanding of the procedures within the context
of practical application of the topics and concepts.
Structure and content
1. Legal terminology in the legal system of the UK, the USA
and the native (European) culture of the student.
2. Common law vs. civil law.
3. Types of laws, regulations, ordinances, bills, etc.
4. Incorporation of companies and accompanying procedures,
documents, regulations, etc.
5. Contract law, contractual obligations, types of clauses, etc.
6. Employment law, employment rights, unfair dismissals,
tribunals, etc.
7. Property law.
8. Intellectual property, patents, copyright, trademarks, etc.
9. Debtor – creditor, secured transactions, etc.
10. Competition law.
 Proposal of how LE might be taught
1. The vocabulary should be introduced and practised within
authentic texts
2. The teacher should try to relate the concepts presented in the
international legal system to the respective legal system of the
native culture the learners come from.
3. Listening comprehension skills should be practised by means of
recordings read by both native and non-native speakers of
English.
4. Writing skills should be practiced by means of short or long essay
assignments, reports, or other types of writing referring to the
concept practised in class.
5. Speaking skills should be practised by means of project-based
learning as it helps students get involved in more details and
prepare in their own way.
Example of practicing writing skills
1. Play an excerpt from a famous film where a closing
argument is being presented
2. Encourage students to write their own closing
argument either based on the same idea or come up
with a new one.

The following link is leading to a complete lesson prepared

for the practice of the concept of the closing argument

http://prezi.com/gy6r7sdsbe4o/interactive-legal-english/
Example of practicing speaking skills by means of Project-
Based learning (PBL

1. SS work as a team, discuss a topic among themselves but also

later on in class when presenting the results of their project.
2. T can incorporate learning strategies otherwise difficult to
realize in the context of Legal English (self and peer
assessment and autonomous learning, organizing, planning,
managing, monitoring, etc.)

The following link is leading to a complete lesson prepared for the

practice of the concept of unfair dismissal realized by PBL

http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=170859
 Conclusion
1. A course in LE should enable practice and application in a number of
realistic contexts (discussions of legal matters, law lectures, client
interviews and negotiations, written texts, contract clauses, corporate
documentation, commercial statutes, legal opinions, etc.)
2. Such broad knowledge acquired from a language course, even without
formal education in the area of law, elevates even the most proficient
English language speaker to an entirely new level of knowledge.
3. A precondition for a successful LE course are: carefully planned
curriculums and syllabuses, didactic methods targeted at the area of
the law, methodological approaches and techniques focusing on all
language skills as well as teaching strategies focusing on the ESP
context.
 Thank you!
Jasmina Djordjevic
Higher education institution
“Academic Studies of Law and Business Dr Lazar Vrkatic”
Novi Sad
djordjevic.jasmina@gmail.com