Universität Wien

030561 KU International Legal English I (2026W)

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 3 - Rechtswissenschaften
Continuous assessment of course work
REMOTE
Moodle
We 14.10. 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).
Register/Deregister for this course

Details

max. 56 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 21.10. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 28.10. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 04.11. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 11.11. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 18.11. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 25.11. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 02.12. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 09.12. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 16.12. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 13.01. 14:15 - 15:45 Digital
  • Wednesday 20.01. 14:15 - 15:45 Hörsaal U12 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, KG1

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Online can be good, very good – 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 could remember 10x more than from traditional lectures.

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 discussing legal topics in English – again online.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

To be eligible for the exam, which will be in-person, participants may miss no more than two classes and must complete all 10 homework exercises. Unexcused absence from the first session will result in deregistration. The assessment will be as follows:
Reading (50mins) Listening (30 mins). Resits and upgrades are not possible. Attendance and homework do not count towards your grade.

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: We 30.09.2026 14:05