Study Programmes 2015-2016
LANG0051-1  
General and Legal English
Duration :
90h Th
Number of credits :
Bachelor in law6
Lecturer :
Frédéric Depas, Pierre Geron, Kevin Heyeres, Caroline Hougardy, ISLV, Estelle Oger
Language(s) of instruction :
English language
Organisation and examination :
All year long, with partial in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Course contents :
This English course is intended for first-year law students and aims both at improving their command of general English and at providing them with the basics of legal English in reading, listening and speaking.
CEFRL levels of the course :
  • listening (B2)
  • reading (C1)
  • speaking (B2)
  • writing (B1)
Learning outcomes of the course :
By the end of the term, students will have
  • developed their ability to read and understand legal texts such as legal periodicals, commercial legislation, legal correspondance and other commercial law documents.
  • increased their comprehension of spoken English when it is used to speak about legal topics in meetings, presentations, interviews, discussions, etc.
  • strengthened their speaking skills and become able to engage more effectively in a range of speaking situations typical of legal practice, such as client interviews, discussions with colleagues and contract negotiations.
  • learned how to use the necessary vocabulary and grammar tools .
Prerequisite knowledge and skills :
The class is taught in English from the start and is not meant for beginners. Students should ideally have reached level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages before the start of the class.
Besides, this course also aims at encouraging the students to further prepare for the International Legal English Certificate by familiarising them with the kinds of tasks they would encounter on the ILEC examination.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
This 90-hour course is taught all year round in two-hour session, twice a week in the first term and once a week in the second term. To be able to keep up with the fast pace of the class, students will make sure to prepare actively and regularly at home the exercises from the book and other additional tasks as indicated by the teacher.
In the same way, students will be expected to revise their basic English grammar on their own.
Recommended or required readings :
The following coursebook will be used in class:
  • Krois-Lindner, Amy and Firth, Matt. Introduction to International Legal English. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
  • A supplementary course book will be available at Intercopy and on eCampus.
Students are required to bring a paper version of the supplementary course book to class.
Students are advised to get hold of the Grammaire Anglaise de Base (ISLV), Editions de l'ULg
Besides, students will need a good bilingual dictionary (English/French, French/English) such as The New Collins Robert French Dictionary or Oxford/Hachette.
They are also advised to get hold of a monolingual dictionary such as Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners or Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Most of these are also available on CD-rom or even online free of charge.
Assessment methods and criteria :
There will be a written exam in January and a final exam in June.  The final exam in June will be made up of a written and an oral part.
The written exam in January will test the grammar, vocabulary, and the texts seen in class during the first term. Students who passed the January exam will not have to resit that part of the exam in June/August.
The written exam in June will be composed of true or false and multiple-choice questions about listening and reading comprehension, and about the grammar and the vocabulary seen in class.
The oral exam (June) will assess not only the students' speaking skills, but also their use of the vocabulary and language functions exercised in class as well as the comprehension of texts.
Students are expected to choose a text at least 1,5 pages long that proves to have a strong connection with one of the units discussed in class. They are free to use any sources but will be asked, among other things, to justify their choice, make connections with the concepts and units dealt with in class, paraphrase the content, explain the title, or give a summary. Students are required to hand in a copy of their text to their teachers during the week of April 11th 2016.
The points that make up the final mark will be distributed as follows:
  • Written exam in January / resit in June or August : 5 points
  • Written exam in June : 5 points
  • Listening comprehension exam (June) : 2 points
  • Oral exam (June) : 8 points
Work placement(s) :
Organizational remarks :
An information session about the language courses will take place on Monday September 14th at 09.45 AM in room 604.
Students will have to sign up for one of the different groups during the information session on Monday 15 September.
Contacts :
Teachers:
Frederic DEPAS (F.Depas@ulg.ac.be)
Pierre GERON (P.Geron@ulg.ac.be)
Kevin HEYERES (K.Heyeres@ulg.ac.be)
Caroline IZEGRAR-HOUGARDY (C.Hougardy@ulg.ac.be) (coordinator)
Estelle OGER (Estelle.Oger@ulg.ac.be)