Legal English
(140)

Basic Information

Aims of the course

Topics

Methodology

Materials

Assessment

References

Basic Information

The course is designed for undergraduate students of translation and interpreting with an upper-intermediate level of English who wish to specialize in legal translation. The course aims to develop students' ability to understand the language used in a variety of legal contexts and to express some of the legal genres in styles appropriate for different audiences.
The focus of the course is the legal disciplinary context and its impact on written and oral expression. More specifically, the program aims for students to develop reading and listening strategies and an approach which enables them to ‘unpack’ the disciplinary discourse. Therefore, it will be necessary for the students to develop basic skills in Law.
Initially, the program presents strategies for text reading and summarising. A major part of the program, however, focuses on application of disciplinary knowledge through students analysing typical writing tasks, practising writing, and comparing these exercises with model responses.
Upon completing the course, students should be more effective in (1) understanding language problems presented by legal texts; (2) analyzing a variety of genres used in legal settings; and (3) expressing the content of legal texts in simple and plain English.

Aims of the course

• To become aware of the existence of a specialized language used by a specialized community.
• To master the key features of the language of the law.
• To understand the reasons underlying the use of language by lawyers.
• To master the resources available for legal documentation in order to solve terminological and conceptual problems in the understanding and production of texts.
• To master the terminology used in some fields of law.
• To be able to analyse complex syntactic structures of legal language.
• To be able to acquire a deep understanding of legal texts.
• To be able to recognize, analyse, understand and write basic legal genres in English.
• To better understand all kinds of legal texts.

Topics

1 Central features of the English legal system
2. The Legal Profession
3. Sources of law: Case Law and Legislation
4. The judiciary and the jury
5. Introduction to criminal law
6. Introduction to civil law

Methodology

This legal language course consists of 30 hours of weekly classes and special sessions for orientation, assignment writing and exam strategies. The latter are held at appropriate times of the semester and may take place at different days of the week.
In classroom sessions several exercises will be developed:
• Written comprehension. Real texts of progressive difficulty and extension will be provided. Topics will cover a wide range of law-related matters such as "Sources of law", " Branches of law" or " Court Division". This texts will be used to improve written and oral skills.
• Documentation. Special workload will be devoted to the use of both general and specialized dictionaries.
• Written expression. Every student will be assessed on the basis of their daily work, which should be testified by a field notebook which should include the following sections:
o Exercises done with references used, legal documents worked with, press articles on the same topic, etc.
o Glossary of new terms.
o Any other useful material.

Materials

Written materials will be provided in due course through the reprographic service.
Delivery of key material will be by both formal and informal lecture. Seminars will also be used, some of which will be student led and some introduced by the teacher. Of these seminar sessions, a number will be devoted to scrutiny of language data and others to critical evaluation and discussion of relevant literature. Occasional tutorial sessions will also take place to enable participation in small groups. Study and observation visits will be arranged to complement the classroom-based activities.
Books for optional review may be found at the library.

Assessment

The student will be assessed by coursework on the basis of their performance in the classroom and their results in the following:
1. A glossary of not less than 60 words.
2. An oral presentation of a legal language issue (presentations will be developed in groups and topics will be discussed in the classroom).
3. A final test.
Optional coursework consists in the reviewing of a book on any legal topic. Any of John Grisham’s fiction books is a recommended reading (The Street Lawyer may be a good choice).

 

ALCARAZ VARÓ, E. (1994): El inglés jurídico. Textos y documentos, Barcelona, Ariel.
ALCARAZ VARÓ, E.; M. Á. CAMPOS & C. MIGUÉLEZ (2001): El inglés jurídico norteamericano, Barcelona, Ariel.
ALCARAZ VARÓ, E. & B. HUGHES (1993/1995): Diccionario de términos jurídicos, Barcelona, Ariel.
BROOKS, P. & P. GEWIRTZ (2000): Law's Stories, New Haven, London, Yale University Press.
COLLIN, P. H. (1993): Dictionary of Law, 2nd edition, Teddington, Peter Collin Pub.
DERSHOWITZ, A. M. (1997): Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case, Simon & Schuster, New York.
GARNER, B. A. (ed.) (1891/1990): Black's Law Dictionary, Saint Paul, West Group.
GIBBONS, J. (ed.) (1994): Language and the Law, Harlow, Longman.
GRISHAM, J. (1999): The Street Lawyer, London, Arrow.
KEENAN, D. (1995): Smith & Keenan's English Law, 11th edition, London, Pirman Publishing.
MELLINKOFF, D. (1990): The Language of the Law, Boston, Toronto, Little, Brown and Company.
MORRIS, M. (1995): Translation and the Law, Amsterdam, Philadelphia, John Benjamins.
PLAIN ENGLISH CAMPAIGN (1996): Language on Trial, Robson Books, London.
SEARL, D. (2001): You and the Law in Spain, 12th edition, Malaga, Santana.
TIERSMA, P. M. (1999): Legal Language, Chicago, University of Chicago Press.