030568 KU Discussion, Negotiation and Presentation in English (2023S)

Online can be good, very good! Uni is about learning, not teaching – so don’t think of an online class as second-best. In DNP, you will often have fun working in groups and you´re likely to remember 10 x more than from a lecture.

Many lawyers often have to work in English. This can challenge the hallmark abilities of the legal professional: high language ability combined with exceptional thinking. Regretfully, working in a second language often limits expression and downgrades thinking.
This course, off-beat and very popular, aims to give you ways to overcome these problems by developing your applied language skills; three scenarios are included - discussion, negotiation, and presentation, with most texts and exercises drawn from legal contexts.
But superb language is of little value unless it is underpinned by clear thought. So the course core includes training in critical thinking skills - how to engage problems, make arguments, evaluate options, and render opinions using skillful reasoning.
The course is led by David Goulden, a Cambridge qualified barrister and former English daily newspaper editor.
Discussion - key functions such as expressing and seeking opinions; agreeing and disagreeing; making suggestions and persuading; a survival game provides hands-on experience.

Negotiation: the language of negotiation (outlining proposals, making counter proposals, bargaining etc) and practice of key skills (establishing positions - strengthening yours and weakening the opposition's, trading, closing etc). Two online meetings about contract are role-played in class.

Presentation - two principal elements. The emphasis is on body language and voice skills; secondly, an exercise analysing a Supreme Court death penalty submission, followed by making your own plea to the Justices.

Critical thinking: one third of the course is devoted to improving your thinking skills … but through learning from practical examples, not "teacher talking". Memorisation has many uses, but it does not develop the ability to think. Concepts such as the Analysis and the Evaluation of Argument, plus Fallacies and Assumptions will be worked on; there will also be introductions to cognitive concepts such as perception, heuristics and tribal intelligence. Finally, a look at ethics ranging from Epicurus and the Stoics to Humanism.

Goals: in language you will acquire ideas of practical value which you can build on through your professional career. In thinking, the aim is to acquire a "critical spirit - a probing inquisitiveness, a keenness of mind, a zealous dedication to reason, and a hunger or eagerness for reliable information" (Peter Facione). These are the keys to living autonomously.