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Abstract: As the world’s economy and society develop quickly and with more frequent interactions with foreigners, many people are aware of the importance of learning legal English. To have a comprehensive understanding of the laws, we must study legal English. Legal English is a kind of ESP (English for Special Purpose). Through years of real practice in legal English teaching, we have achieved some effects. However, the development of legal English teaching in our country is not mature. Problems and difficulties still exist. The whole situation of legal English teaching in our country needs improvement and reform.
Key words:ESP theories; content-based approach; legal English teaching
1.Introduction
As the world’s economy and society develop quickly, China is developing under a globalization context. Since our country has conduct the reform and opening policy for more than tens of years, we are active in many activities both at home and abroad. Our country plays a more and more important role in diplomatic affairs. It is prosperous in many fields including foreign economy and trade, cultural arts and scientific technology. With more frequent interactions with foreigners, we advocate communicating with them peacefully, but conflicts still arise from time to time. Then many people are aware of the importance of protecting their rights.
To cope with this situation, we need to know laws both at home and abroad to protect ourselves from various risks. Language is the vehicle for communication and laws are expressed in language. Therefore, to have a comprehensive understanding of the laws, we must study their languages. To view it as a curriculum perspective, legal English is a kind of ESP (English for Special Purpose). Through years of real practice in legal English teaching, we have achieved some effects. However, the development of legal English instruction in our country is not mature. It needs improvement and reform. The following parts will discuss these issues in detail.
2.Present situation of legal English teaching in China
Generally, legal English in China is still a marginal science which has not yet attracted enough attention. Since the status of legal English is not clear, the teaching objectives of legal English is vague, teaching content is casual, teaching standards go their own ways, so that bilingual education of legal specialty has lost the vital foundation. Although many colleges and universities’ Department of Law have set up legal English courses, but overall, our legal English language teaching still exists many problems; it is far from being able to meet the real needs.
2.1 Present problems of legal English teaching in China
2.1.1 Less rational legal courses design
Apart from very few faculties setting legal English course as optional extra-curriculum, most faculties generally set it as compulsory professional course. But in terms of the course hour arrangements, majority of colleges and universities arrange legal English course only for a semester. In addition, instructors ignore the features of language teaching. Sixty or more students are ranked in a classroom, which lack of enough interactions between teachers and students so that students’ legal English level can’t be enhanced. Moreover, many colleges and universities often ignore the effects of language teaching because one-to-one instruction is not available.
2.1.2 Weak faculty configuration
Weak faculty configuration of legal English language course is the biggest problem in legal English teaching. At present, China’s legal English teachers are mainly three types: foreign teachers, English language teachers and teachers of law specialty. Foreign teachers can take the case of genuine teaching with authentic speaking, but they are generally difficult to express the proper awareness and understanding of Chinese law. Although English language teachers have solid and deep foundation of English and excellent spoken English, their understandings of the law are not thoroughly. Teachers of law specialty qualify basic legal knowledge often with very high level of reading and translation skills of English, are poor in listening and speaking skills. All these three kind of teachers have their own advantages, and also have their own shorts. They are all limited to help students develop strong legal English listening, speaking, reading and writing ability. Therefore, the quality of legal English teachers is not optimistic.
2.1.3 Unreasonable content of teaching materials
Although currently, there are many legal English materials on the market, more or less have some deficiencies. Some teaching materials’ content is backward. Some texts’ content is still talking about the seventies and eighties century. Teaching materials are far from the practice of international trade. Majority of the present materials are not scientific. The text contents are abstruse and obscure with very long and difficult sentences. The text style is boring and single so that students lose their interests and motivation of learning.
2.1.4 Lagging teaching methods
Present legal English teaching method is similar to general English teaching. Most of classroom teaching is still teacher-centered, using a simple combination of reading or reading and translation teaching methods. Therefore, most students feel that there is not much difference between legal English courses and general English courses. They just have learned a few legal English vocabularies. Old and single teaching methods make the majority of law students’ lack of interest and motivation in learning legal English. Thus it seriously affects the effect of the legal English teaching so that it is difficult to improve teaching quality.
3.Measures and suggestions for tackling the problems
3.1 Designing rational courses
Instructors have to design legal English courses that fit well with the methodology and goals of legal English syllabus and are closely related to the students needs. This type of courses requires learners to create a product that achieves a predetermined goal, such as deal with foreign cases successfully. Students can be asked to evaluate authentic documents, such as legal documents writing.
We should optimize the curriculum to ensure the teaching hours and to enable students to truly grasp the basic knowledge and skills in legal English. To set up courses of legal professional English in higher vocational colleges, for one thing, we have to take into account both the general English classes and the professional English classes so that students can lay solid foundation to learn English. In fact, we may streamline the general English courses, so that students will be able to master the basic knowledge of English within a year around and obtain basic listening and speaking abilities.
According to the requirements of curriculum, legal English courses should last for three semesters. The first semester is based on foreign legal knowledge teaching, while improving student’s reading ability and dictation capability. In second semester, the aim is to improve the comprehensive proficiency in legal English and to develop students’ writing ability and oral expression. The third semester aims to cultivate students’ comprehensive abilities. Only enough hours of legal English training can cultivate talents of legal English. Small classes are the best arrangement that every student will have the opportunity to actively participate in classroom communication and training.
3.2Improving teachers’ quality and changing teaching methods
Qualities and abilities of teachers determine the level of the quality of teaching, thus enhancing the construction of teachers’ quality is the keystone of completing the legal English language teaching missions. Related department may provide some conditions for young and middle aged teachers to get further study in specialized institutions or open undergraduate English courses in professional colleges and academies, develop incentive policies to encourage and support them in pursuing a degree or education-related disciplines, while we can introduce a number of expertise and highly educated people to give lectures.
3.3 Scientific arrangement of textbooks
When selecting the textbooks of legal English, instructors should pay special attention to the coordination of the contents and legal materials, therefore, teaching materials should be of diversity, extensive and interesting. First, the legal English textbooks should be a diversity of style. It should include not only legal papers and books category of British and American textbooks, but also include legal provisions, case analysis. Particularly the judicial instruments such as attorney of pleadings and judgments should be included so as to improve the students’ reading ability and actual ability to apply it. Second, the content of legal English textbooks should be broad. It should include not only Anglo-American law and procedural law, but also take comparison on the Anglo-American law and civil law systems. There should be some of the major Chinese laws and regulations and departmental laws. Thirdly, the legal English textbooks should be interesting. Before each lesson, teachers can recommend famous maxim to arise students’ experience; each lesson should be easy to understand and remember. Exercises in each lesson should be closely linked to the article theme, and finally add related humor or jokes.
3.4Improving teaching methods
The aim of legal English teaching is to train students’ ability of using English to carry out the legal professional communication. To train students’ full legal English proficiency, we must reform teaching methods, use a combination of variety of teaching methods. In the teaching process, first, we make full use of multimedia technology and network technology to develop multimedia recourse. Secondly, we have to explain the texts through cases. Therefore, students can analyze the cause to cultivate their problem-solving ability. Finally, the combination of knowledge and classroom practice will arouse students’ interests, such as class discussions, academic lectures, mock trial and film watching.
4.Conclusion
In our country, although difficulties and problems still exist in current legal English teaching, as long as teachers and teaching management departments are based on syllabus actively explore and strive to improve their own quality, we can find reasonable teaching methods of the legal English teaching and its teaching system. If we carry out reforms purposely, we can cultivate high-quality, complex type and export-oriented talents. In short, legal English curriculum planning is the key to develop students’ legal profession skills and cultivate their English language ability. Related researches not only directly act on the legal English curriculum planning, but also guide the legal English teaching and research. It has far-reaching significance for teaching resources development, academic assessment, curriculum evaluation and etc.
References:
[1]Brinton,D.M.,M. A. Snow., &M.B. Wesche.(1989).Content-based second language instruction. Boston: Heinle and Heinle.
[2]Jack C.Richards.(2008). Curriculum development in language teaching. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
[3]Kasper,L.(2000). Content-based college ESL instruction.Mahwah,NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
[4]Chávez, M. (1998). Learner’s perspective on authenticity. IRAL: International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching (pp.277-307). Heidelberg: J. Groos.
[5]Maria José, Luzón, Marco. (2002, July). Internet Content-based Activities for English for Specific Purposes. English Teaching Forum, Spain.
[6]马庆林(2002).试论英语+法律复合型人才培养模式—来自西北政法学院法律外语系的调查报告.外语教学,6,82-85.
[7]张卫(2002).法律英语与涉外律师—兼谈高校法律英语教学.西安外国语学院学报,2,84-87.
[8]郭强(2004).论法律英语课程规划的理据.山东外语教学,1,67-70.
[9]高翔,穆从军(2002).关于培养复合型、应用型外语人才的思考.外语界,2,10-13.
[10]程世禄,张国扬(1996).ESP 的理论与实践.广西:广西教育出版社.
Key words:ESP theories; content-based approach; legal English teaching
1.Introduction
As the world’s economy and society develop quickly, China is developing under a globalization context. Since our country has conduct the reform and opening policy for more than tens of years, we are active in many activities both at home and abroad. Our country plays a more and more important role in diplomatic affairs. It is prosperous in many fields including foreign economy and trade, cultural arts and scientific technology. With more frequent interactions with foreigners, we advocate communicating with them peacefully, but conflicts still arise from time to time. Then many people are aware of the importance of protecting their rights.
To cope with this situation, we need to know laws both at home and abroad to protect ourselves from various risks. Language is the vehicle for communication and laws are expressed in language. Therefore, to have a comprehensive understanding of the laws, we must study their languages. To view it as a curriculum perspective, legal English is a kind of ESP (English for Special Purpose). Through years of real practice in legal English teaching, we have achieved some effects. However, the development of legal English instruction in our country is not mature. It needs improvement and reform. The following parts will discuss these issues in detail.
2.Present situation of legal English teaching in China
Generally, legal English in China is still a marginal science which has not yet attracted enough attention. Since the status of legal English is not clear, the teaching objectives of legal English is vague, teaching content is casual, teaching standards go their own ways, so that bilingual education of legal specialty has lost the vital foundation. Although many colleges and universities’ Department of Law have set up legal English courses, but overall, our legal English language teaching still exists many problems; it is far from being able to meet the real needs.
2.1 Present problems of legal English teaching in China
2.1.1 Less rational legal courses design
Apart from very few faculties setting legal English course as optional extra-curriculum, most faculties generally set it as compulsory professional course. But in terms of the course hour arrangements, majority of colleges and universities arrange legal English course only for a semester. In addition, instructors ignore the features of language teaching. Sixty or more students are ranked in a classroom, which lack of enough interactions between teachers and students so that students’ legal English level can’t be enhanced. Moreover, many colleges and universities often ignore the effects of language teaching because one-to-one instruction is not available.
2.1.2 Weak faculty configuration
Weak faculty configuration of legal English language course is the biggest problem in legal English teaching. At present, China’s legal English teachers are mainly three types: foreign teachers, English language teachers and teachers of law specialty. Foreign teachers can take the case of genuine teaching with authentic speaking, but they are generally difficult to express the proper awareness and understanding of Chinese law. Although English language teachers have solid and deep foundation of English and excellent spoken English, their understandings of the law are not thoroughly. Teachers of law specialty qualify basic legal knowledge often with very high level of reading and translation skills of English, are poor in listening and speaking skills. All these three kind of teachers have their own advantages, and also have their own shorts. They are all limited to help students develop strong legal English listening, speaking, reading and writing ability. Therefore, the quality of legal English teachers is not optimistic.
2.1.3 Unreasonable content of teaching materials
Although currently, there are many legal English materials on the market, more or less have some deficiencies. Some teaching materials’ content is backward. Some texts’ content is still talking about the seventies and eighties century. Teaching materials are far from the practice of international trade. Majority of the present materials are not scientific. The text contents are abstruse and obscure with very long and difficult sentences. The text style is boring and single so that students lose their interests and motivation of learning.
2.1.4 Lagging teaching methods
Present legal English teaching method is similar to general English teaching. Most of classroom teaching is still teacher-centered, using a simple combination of reading or reading and translation teaching methods. Therefore, most students feel that there is not much difference between legal English courses and general English courses. They just have learned a few legal English vocabularies. Old and single teaching methods make the majority of law students’ lack of interest and motivation in learning legal English. Thus it seriously affects the effect of the legal English teaching so that it is difficult to improve teaching quality.
3.Measures and suggestions for tackling the problems
3.1 Designing rational courses
Instructors have to design legal English courses that fit well with the methodology and goals of legal English syllabus and are closely related to the students needs. This type of courses requires learners to create a product that achieves a predetermined goal, such as deal with foreign cases successfully. Students can be asked to evaluate authentic documents, such as legal documents writing.
We should optimize the curriculum to ensure the teaching hours and to enable students to truly grasp the basic knowledge and skills in legal English. To set up courses of legal professional English in higher vocational colleges, for one thing, we have to take into account both the general English classes and the professional English classes so that students can lay solid foundation to learn English. In fact, we may streamline the general English courses, so that students will be able to master the basic knowledge of English within a year around and obtain basic listening and speaking abilities.
According to the requirements of curriculum, legal English courses should last for three semesters. The first semester is based on foreign legal knowledge teaching, while improving student’s reading ability and dictation capability. In second semester, the aim is to improve the comprehensive proficiency in legal English and to develop students’ writing ability and oral expression. The third semester aims to cultivate students’ comprehensive abilities. Only enough hours of legal English training can cultivate talents of legal English. Small classes are the best arrangement that every student will have the opportunity to actively participate in classroom communication and training.
3.2Improving teachers’ quality and changing teaching methods
Qualities and abilities of teachers determine the level of the quality of teaching, thus enhancing the construction of teachers’ quality is the keystone of completing the legal English language teaching missions. Related department may provide some conditions for young and middle aged teachers to get further study in specialized institutions or open undergraduate English courses in professional colleges and academies, develop incentive policies to encourage and support them in pursuing a degree or education-related disciplines, while we can introduce a number of expertise and highly educated people to give lectures.
3.3 Scientific arrangement of textbooks
When selecting the textbooks of legal English, instructors should pay special attention to the coordination of the contents and legal materials, therefore, teaching materials should be of diversity, extensive and interesting. First, the legal English textbooks should be a diversity of style. It should include not only legal papers and books category of British and American textbooks, but also include legal provisions, case analysis. Particularly the judicial instruments such as attorney of pleadings and judgments should be included so as to improve the students’ reading ability and actual ability to apply it. Second, the content of legal English textbooks should be broad. It should include not only Anglo-American law and procedural law, but also take comparison on the Anglo-American law and civil law systems. There should be some of the major Chinese laws and regulations and departmental laws. Thirdly, the legal English textbooks should be interesting. Before each lesson, teachers can recommend famous maxim to arise students’ experience; each lesson should be easy to understand and remember. Exercises in each lesson should be closely linked to the article theme, and finally add related humor or jokes.
3.4Improving teaching methods
The aim of legal English teaching is to train students’ ability of using English to carry out the legal professional communication. To train students’ full legal English proficiency, we must reform teaching methods, use a combination of variety of teaching methods. In the teaching process, first, we make full use of multimedia technology and network technology to develop multimedia recourse. Secondly, we have to explain the texts through cases. Therefore, students can analyze the cause to cultivate their problem-solving ability. Finally, the combination of knowledge and classroom practice will arouse students’ interests, such as class discussions, academic lectures, mock trial and film watching.
4.Conclusion
In our country, although difficulties and problems still exist in current legal English teaching, as long as teachers and teaching management departments are based on syllabus actively explore and strive to improve their own quality, we can find reasonable teaching methods of the legal English teaching and its teaching system. If we carry out reforms purposely, we can cultivate high-quality, complex type and export-oriented talents. In short, legal English curriculum planning is the key to develop students’ legal profession skills and cultivate their English language ability. Related researches not only directly act on the legal English curriculum planning, but also guide the legal English teaching and research. It has far-reaching significance for teaching resources development, academic assessment, curriculum evaluation and etc.
References:
[1]Brinton,D.M.,M. A. Snow., &M.B. Wesche.(1989).Content-based second language instruction. Boston: Heinle and Heinle.
[2]Jack C.Richards.(2008). Curriculum development in language teaching. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
[3]Kasper,L.(2000). Content-based college ESL instruction.Mahwah,NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
[4]Chávez, M. (1998). Learner’s perspective on authenticity. IRAL: International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching (pp.277-307). Heidelberg: J. Groos.
[5]Maria José, Luzón, Marco. (2002, July). Internet Content-based Activities for English for Specific Purposes. English Teaching Forum, Spain.
[6]马庆林(2002).试论英语+法律复合型人才培养模式—来自西北政法学院法律外语系的调查报告.外语教学,6,82-85.
[7]张卫(2002).法律英语与涉外律师—兼谈高校法律英语教学.西安外国语学院学报,2,84-87.
[8]郭强(2004).论法律英语课程规划的理据.山东外语教学,1,67-70.
[9]高翔,穆从军(2002).关于培养复合型、应用型外语人才的思考.外语界,2,10-13.
[10]程世禄,张国扬(1996).ESP 的理论与实践.广西:广西教育出版社.