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English Language in Law
Study Course Description
Course Description Statuss:Approved
Course Description Version:10.00
Study Course Accepted:02.02.2024 12:30:58
| Study Course Information | |||||||||
| Course Code: | VC_002 | LQF level: | Level 6 | ||||||
| Credit Points: | 4.00 | ECTS: | 6.00 | ||||||
| Branch of Science: | Linguistics | Target Audience: | Juridical Science | ||||||
| Study Course Supervisor | |||||||||
| Course Supervisor: | Sniedze Vilde | ||||||||
| Study Course Implementer | |||||||||
| Structural Unit: | Faculty of Social Sciences | ||||||||
| The Head of Structural Unit: | |||||||||
| Contacts: | Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szf rsu[pnkts]lv | ||||||||
| Study Course Planning | |||||||||
| Full-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 0 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 0 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 0 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 18 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 36 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 36 | ||||||||
| Full-Time - Semester No.2 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 0 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 0 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 0 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 18 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 36 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 36 | ||||||||
| Part-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 0 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 0 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 0 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 9 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 18 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 18 | ||||||||
| Study course description | |||||||||
| Preliminary Knowledge: | Knowledge of the English language at secondary school level. | ||||||||
| Objective: | To develop students’ communication skills for use in academic and professional settings and to facilitate the acquisition of professional terminology for productive use. | ||||||||
| Topic Layout (Full-Time) | |||||||||
| No. | Topic | Type of Implementation | Number | Venue | |||||
| 1 | Netiquette | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 2 | Legal Systems | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 3 | Legal Sources | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 4 | Court System (Latvia, Great Britain, USA) | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 5 | The Court System of the European Union | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 6 | Grammar 1: Revision of Tenses and Punctuation | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 7 | Legal Career | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 8 | CV and Motivation Letter | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 9 | Business Correspondence | Classes | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 10 | Presentation Skills | Classes | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 11 | Translating Legal Documents | Classes | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 12 | Civil Law: Family Law, Inheritance Law, Property Law, Employment Law | Classes | 4.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 13 | Grammar 2: Use of Passive and Active Voice, Direct Speech, Conditional Sentences in Legal Texts | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 14 | Administrative Procedure Law | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 15 | Criminal Law | Classes | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 16 | Grammar 3: Use of Articles, Prepositions, Modal Verbs and Phrasal verbs in Legal Texts | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 17 | Public Speaking and Debating | Classes | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| Topic Layout (Part-Time) | |||||||||
| No. | Topic | Type of Implementation | Number | Venue | |||||
| 2 | Legal Systems | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 3 | Legal Sources | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 4 | Court System (Latvia, Great Britain, USA) | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 9 | Business Correspondence | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 11 | Translating Legal Documents | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 12 | Civil Law: Family Law, Inheritance Law, Property Law, Employment Law | Classes | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 15 | Criminal Law | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| Assessment | |||||||||
| Unaided Work: | Individual work, work in pairs, explanation of terms, preparation of summaries, translations. | ||||||||
| Assessment Criteria: | • active participation in practical training, timely submitted self-assessment tests, and home assignments on e-studies; • presentations in pairs or individually, one in each semester; the student shows his/her ability to use legal terminology, avoid making stylistic, grammar and pronunciation errors, create an academic presentation and deliver the presentation both in person or online. • test at the end of the semester I – evaluating the acquired terminology knowledge and the ability to use it in a context; • exam at the end of the semester II – evaluating the terminology knowledge and its practical use, the general understanding of the text and specific information, the use of written language and the ability to translate. The final grade for the course is made up of: attendance of classes – 5%, home assignments – 20%, presentations – 20%, exam/final test – 50%, optional criteria (attitude, activity, achievement dynamics) – 5%. | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Full-Time): | Exam | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Part-Time): | Exam | ||||||||
| Learning Outcomes | |||||||||
| Knowledge: | As a result of successful acquisition of the study course, the students will: • recognize legal terminology in oral speech and in printed texts; • be able to interpret the content of common legal documents and to translate few of them from/into the Latvian language; • describe various phenomena related to the field of law using professional terminology. | ||||||||
| Skills: | As a result of a successful acquisition of the study course, the students will be able to: • organize and participate in formal online events; • use legal terminology for preparation of presentations and other speeches associated with professional activities as well as in writing; • constructively express their thoughts and opinions on a specific topic related to law; • create and deliver academic presentations; • engage in business correspondence; • draft documents necessary for job interviews; • translate common legal documents to/from the Latvian language into English. | ||||||||
| Competencies: | As a result of successful acquisition of the study course, the students will practically use the acquired terminology in studies and in various situations associated with their area of expertise. | ||||||||
| Bibliography | |||||||||
| No. | Reference | ||||||||
| Required Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Borchardt Klaus-Dieter. The ABC of EU Law. Publications office of the EU, 2017 | ||||||||
| 2 | Brieger Nick. Test Your Professional English: Law. Penguin English Guides, 2002 | ||||||||
| 3 | G. D. Brown, S. Rice. Professional English in Use Law. Cambridge University Press, 2007 | ||||||||
| Additional Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Bastiat Frederic. The Law. 2008 | ||||||||
| 2 | Pound Roscoe. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Law. 2010 | ||||||||
| 3 | Walsh, K., W. The Legal English Manual (2.ed.). Lawbility, Ltd. 2017 | ||||||||
| Other Information Sources | |||||||||
| 1 | http://dictionary.law.com/ | ||||||||
| 2 | http://dictionary.findlaw.com/ | ||||||||
| 3 | http://www.lectlaw.com/def.htm | ||||||||
| 4 | http://www.law-dictionary.org/ | ||||||||
| 5 | http://ec.europa.eu/ | ||||||||
| 6 | http://europa.eu/index_en.htm | ||||||||
| 7 | http://eulaw.wordpress.com/ | ||||||||
| 8 | http://www.civitas.org.uk/eufacts/OS/OS6.htm | ||||||||
