Universität Wien

030561 KU International Legal English I (2025W)

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 3 - Rechtswissenschaften
Continuous assessment of course work
REMOTE
Moodle
We 10.12. 14:15-15:45 Digital

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 40 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 08.10. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 15.10. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 22.10. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 29.10. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 05.11. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 12.11. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 19.11. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 26.11. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 03.12. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 17.12. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 07.01. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 14.01. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 21.01. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Online can be good, very good !
Uni is mostly about learning, not teaching – so don’t think of an online class as second-best. In ILE, you will master both the course content and also develop your learning and communication skills. To help inter-action you will have partners for class exercises, and there will be regular small groups for discussions. Overall, you’ll probably remember far more than from a traditional lecture.

The course will develop your competence to work confidently in English in a legal context by improving skills in the four language areas - reading and writing, speaking and listening (Level C1).
It is based around Cambridge University’s successful international legal English syllabus, but with additional material from online sources such as the Guardian newspaper law pages, law reports, professional websites etc. Video and audio are extensively used. Topics in Part 1 include the foundations of legal language, the legal profession, company law and the law of contract. However, it should be emphasised that this is not a course in substantive law - simply that these subject areas provide a realistic context for language acquisition.
Classes will be interactive through Moodle and Zoom. Weekly preparation and exercises, lasting 90 mins, are an obligatory part of the course. Programme leader is David Goulden, a Cambridge-qualified barrister, and an experienced language trainer.

Assessment and permitted materials

Reading: improving your ability to read and understand legal texts such as legal journals, legislation, correspondence etc
Writing: to improve your ability to write common legal texts like letters and a memo.
Listening: to increase your understanding of spoken English topics in client meetings, conferences, seminars etc – and online.
Speaking: developing your confidence in explaining and disc ussing legal topics in English – again online.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

To be eligible for the assessment, which will be online, participants may miss no more than two classes and must complete all homework. The assessment will be as follows:
Reading (40mins) Listening (40 mins). Resits or upgrades are not possible.

Examination topics

The areas to be tested are:
Reading: semantic precision, grammatical and lexical knowledge, awareness of text structure and understanding gist, detail, opinion and information
Listening: understanding gist, detail, function, opinion and inference; also retrieving specific information, identifying speakers and topics; recognising attitude.

Reading list

There is no reading list beyond topics set in the course.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 15.09.2025 14:05