2023-2024 / LANG3003-1

Reading of legal texts in English

Duration

30h Th

Number of credits

 Bachelor in law3 crédits 

Lecturer

Kevin Heyeres

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

This course is intended for students who have reached the 3rd block of their bachelor in law. Reading and understanding texts drafted in legal English is the main subject of this class, which will cover various lexical fields of legal English. This course will primarily aim at:

  • learning reading strategies;
  • studying grammatical and syntactical structures that are specific to both general and legal English;
  • acquiring good knowledge of the basic legal English vocabulary.
  A large range of texts, including articles from the general press dealing with legal subjects, legal periodicals, extracts taken from pieces of legislation and various legal documents, will form the core material of this course.
Students are expected to have reached CEFR level B2/C1 in reading comprehension to pass the examination.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

In order to meet the requirements set by the Faculty of Law, students should by the end of this class:


  • be proficient in reading and understanding texts dealing with legal subjects.
  • be able to paraphrase or translate specific extracts from legal texts from English into French.
The use of a general/legal English bilingual dictionary will be allowed in class as well as during the examination.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

In order to take this class, students must already have a good command of the general English language in reading.
Students should ideally have reached level B1 of the Common European Framework or Reference for Languages before the start of this class.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

  • Analysis of and reading exercises based on legal texts;
  • Basic legal English vocabulary exercises;
  • Tasks pertaining to the identification and studying of relevant language devices in legal English (linking words, sentence structures, verb forms...);
  • Study of the differences in sentence construction and syntax between general and legal English;
  • Translation and paraphrasing exercises;
  • Tasks involving the use of a dictionary;
Students are required to prepare some activities and exercises at home beforehand.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

This course is taught in the first term 2 hours a week.
In-class teaching will be prioritized subject to sanitary conditions.
 
 

Recommended or required readings

Lecture notes and other useful documents will be available on eCampus.

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

written exam


Additional information:

A written examination will test the students' reading comprehension skills.

 A general and/or legal English bilingual dictionary in paper version is permitted at all times. Nevertheless, electronic devices, glossaries, vocabulary or word lists are not authorized. Check out the conformity of your books and publications with your professor at least two weeks before the end of the term.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

Contacts

Kevin Heyeres K.Heyeres@uliege.be

Association of one or more MOOCs