Universität Wien

030619 KU Cambridge Legal English (ILEC) II (2014S)

3.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 3 - Rechtswissenschaften
Continuous assessment of course work

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. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 19.03. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum SEM41 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 4.OG
  • Wednesday 26.03. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum SEM41 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 4.OG
  • Wednesday 02.04. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum SEM41 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 4.OG
  • Wednesday 30.04. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum SEM41 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 4.OG
  • Wednesday 07.05. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum SEM41 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 4.OG
  • Wednesday 14.05. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum SEM41 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 4.OG
  • Wednesday 21.05. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum SEM41 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 4.OG
  • Wednesday 28.05. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum SEM41 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 4.OG
  • Wednesday 04.06. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum SEM41 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 4.OG
  • Wednesday 11.06. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum SEM41 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 4.OG
  • Wednesday 18.06. 14:15 - 15:45 Seminarraum SEM41 Schottenbastei 10-16, Juridicum, 4.OG

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Cambridge Legal English (Goulden)

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.

Core of the course is Cambridge University's syllabus for the certificate in international legal English (ILEC); the main (obligatory) textbook is Cambridge's 'International Legal English' with additional material drawn from online sources such as The Guardian law pages, law reports, professional websites etc. Video and audio are used extensively including the supreme courts of the US and of England. Primarily based on Common Law jurisdictions and Commercial law, the concepts are found in many legal systems. Texts and topics include: company law, contract, sale of goods, employment, intellectual property, competition, debtor-creditor, negotiable instruments, secured transactions and competition law. However, it should be emphasised that this is not a course in substantive law-simply that these subject areas provide a realistic context for legal language skills training.
Teaching is in a highly-participative, tutorial format offering maximum opportunities to use the language that you are learning. Programme leader is David Goulden, a Cambridge-qualified barrister, and an experienced ILEC trainer.
You will be asked to deliver one case brief and to submit a short written exercise (Client letter or internal memo). Private preparation is expected to take 45 mins each week.

Assessment and permitted materials

At the conclusion of each semester, participants will sit an assessment based on the Cambridge ILEC exams as follows:

Reading (30 mins) Listening (30mins) Writing (30mins)

The areas tested are:
Reading: semantic precision, grammatical and lexical knowledge, awareness of text structure and understanding gist, detail, opinion and information
Writing: concise expression, accuracy of language, organisation of content and relevance.

Listening: understanding gist, detail, function, opinion and inference; also retrieving specific information, identifying speakers and topics; recognising attitude.
Speaking: responding to questions and expanding on responses; sustaining a long turn in discussion by giving information, and expressing and justifying opinions; negotiating and collaborating; comparing and contrasting etc.

The internal exam can also act as a trial run for those aspiring to qualify for the Cambridge University certificate by sitting the official ILEC exam, held each May and November in Vienna by the British Council. This, of course, is a valuable addition to your CV.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The learning objectives are:

Reading: improving your ability to read and understand legal texts such as legal journals, legislation, correspondence etc

Writing: improving your ability to write common legal texts like letters and memoranda
Listening: increasing your understanding of spoken English when it is used to speak about legal topics in meetings, conferences, seminars etc

Speaking: to strengthen your speaking skills and to enable you to engage more effectively in a range of speaking situations typical of legal practice.

Examination topics

Reading list

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Th 31.03.2022 00:16