journal of linguistic studies

REFLECTIONS ON TEACHING ESP
FOR INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ENGLISH CERTIFICATE
DUBRAVKA PAPA
J. J. Strossmayer University, Osijek, Croatia
dpapa@pravos.hr
ANICA PERKOVIĆ
J. J. Strossmayer University, Osijek, Croatia
panica@pfos.hr
ABSTRACT
The expansion of scientific, technical and economic activities on an international
scale has created an increasing demand on learning English not for pleasure but
because English is the key to science and commerce. The demand for English courses
tailored to specific needs is rapidly growing in areas such as law, medicine, finance
and many more. The practice of law is a wide and varied area of employment ranging
from academic studies to lawyers working for law firms. Each country has different
education systems and different requirements for certain types of work in the area of
law. It should also be noted that lawyers often move between these areas of practice
in order to gain experience from one field which may be useful in another area of
work. The article reflects on teaching the ILEC courses at the Faculty of Law in
Osijek in the course of the life-long learning process.
Keywords: ILEC preparation course; Adult learners; Life-long learning
1. INTRODUCTION
Preparing for teaching International Legal English (ILE) is demanding. We could say
that preparing for teaching ILE is even more demanding and time-consuming. This is
confirmed by the author of the course book for International Legal English.
My first lesson with lawyers was exhausting and stressful. The vocabulary
brainstorm activity I had planned as a warmer ended up taking the whole lesson
and left me with a list of over 40 items which either I could not explain or was not
sure how to pronounce. I then spent several hours before the next lesson checking
all the words on my list and turning them into two simple match-the-words-withtheir-definitions
worksheets. This hard work convinced my students that a nonlawyer
could teach them legal English. (Day, Krois-Lindner & TransLegal 2006:
8).
International Legal English Certificate (ILEC) is a Legal English Course for law
students, practicing lawyers, post-graduate law students and those who need a recognised
certificate in legal English. Within the TEMPUS Project (Foreign Languages in the Field
of Law) the foreign language courses (in English and German) were initiated at the
Faculty of Law in Osijek in 2008. It was then that the first ILEC course started at the
Faculty of Law in Osijek as a 70-hour course for law students and practising lawyers and
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