English Ii

This is a second-year, two-semester course which can be accessed once the first-year English language course has been completed. The aim of the course, which combines theoretical and applied perspectives, is to familiarise students with legal and institutional discourse in English. This means that students will have a chance to gain a good grounding in common law legal systems and the main principles underlying them, also comparing them with civil law systems, with special attention for linguistic aspects. Through lessons based on the analysis of authentic texts (statutes, contracts, judgments, arbitration awards, etc.), students will be equipped with the tools to understand the ways in which legal language is used in national, supranational and international contexts respectively and will be expected to acquire the ability to read and interpret legal texts, learning to handle their peculiar linguistic structures and specific vocabulary and phraseology. In the course component focusing on judiciary legal discourse and interpreting, students will develop the ability to translate oral legal texts in the consecutive mode, also taking notes wherever necessary. The investigation of institutional communication will illustrate the linguistic and discursive features of a variety of genres across different media, analysing them with the critical tools of Discourse Analysis.

At the end of the course, students will be able to: understand English legal documents that range from statutes to contracts and international instruments; understand and use English legal terminology; analyse and present legal and institutional cases in English; act as interpreters of oral legal discourse, including police interviews and court examinations.