Duration
30h Th
Number of credits
| Bachelor in law | 3 crédits |
Lecturer
Françoise Carl, ISLV
Language(s) of instruction
German language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The aim of this course is to provide 3d year law students with the reading comprehension strategies needed for understanding legal documents, such as newspaper articles, legal texts, as well as other law-related documents. It will cover a wide range of legal subjects and will focus on :
- the acquisition of reading comprehension skills and strategies
- syntactic and grammatical structures which are particularly relevant in a legal context
- the acquisition of basic legal vocabulary
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
In order to meet the requirements for the final exam as defined by the Faculty of Law, students should, by the end of the class, be able to :
- read and understand effectively legal documents, such as newspaper articles, legal texts, as well as other law-related documents of manageable difficulty.
- translate appropriately extracts from legal texts or other law-related documents.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
As a prerequiste for this course students should have sufficient ability to read general texts.
Ideally, their command of general German should correspond to CEFR-level B1.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
- Reading comprehension exercices of legal documents
- Efficient and effective use of a dictionary
- Study and acquisition of basic legal terms
- Study of relevant language items (linking words, adverbs, prepositions, verbs, particles, particular sentence structures ...) with the aim of enabling students to understand legal texts better
- Study of various grammatical structures that are relevant to both legal and general German
- Various translation exercices
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
2 hours per week, second term
Students are supposed to prepare activities and exercises on a weekly basis as indicated by their teacher. Regular class attendance is mandatory.
Organisational adjustments related to the current health context
MODE OF DELIVERY:
In case of a "yellow" or "orange" alert level, courses will take place in class (in compliance with existing Covid-19 measures).
In case of a "red" alert level, classes will take place online.
EXAMS:
If on-campus presence is authorized, exams will be held in-person (applying all required safety measures).
If on-campus presence is authorized: written exam (in-person, 1,5 h)
If on-campus presence is not authorize: oral online exams (Lifesize).
For further information see "Myuliege" (News).
Recommended or required readings
- Course book 'Reading Legal Texts in German"
- N. Schumacher, H. Bouillon, "Guide de grammaire allemande" (De Boeck, 2007) ISBN: 978-2-8041-5406-6
Assessment methods and criteria
Below you will find information on the evaluation methods planned for in-person and remote exams as well as those planned for hybrid sessions. Depending on how the health crisis evolves, the chosen method will be communicated to you no later than one month before the start of the exam session.
Any session :
- In-person
written exam
- Remote
oral exam
- If evaluation in "hybrid"
preferred in-person
Additional information:
Written exam of 2 hours. The exam will primarily assess students' reading comprehension abilities through various exercises. To a certain extent students' passive knowledge of important language items will also be tested
The exam will be based on various extracts (multiple choice questions, fill-in-the-blanks questions and translation exercises). It will consist of two parts :
- Part 1 will be based on the texts covered in class (10/20)
- Part 2 will be based on unfamiliar texts (10/20)
An optional exemption exam will be organised for 2nd year students. It will coincide with the second session exam.
Studets will be allowed to use a bilingual dictionary and/or legal dictionary. However, they are not allowed to use either electronic media or other written media, such as word lists or glossaries. In case of doubt, students should seek advice from their teacher in order to make sure that they have chosen an appropriate dictionary.
Assessment methods may be adapted according to the current health context.
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
Contacts
Françoise Carl (PhD)
fcarl@ulg.ac.be