Innovation in Language Learning

Ever since English became universally acknowledged as a language of international professional exchange and cooperation, teaching it for specific purposes has been widely discussed by language specialists and educators, by learners, by education policy-makers and administrators. Although most professionals welcome the possibility to acquire a “specific purpose” language, there are controversial opinions about how to learn it, what kind of “facilitation” is required, whether it can be mastered independently, without a tutor, and what kind of expertise is expected from such tutors.

The aim of the article is three-fold. The authors present the research done among the students of the Law Faculty of Vilnius University, which was aimed at investigating the student’s perspective on the purpose and implementation of the course in legal English. The results of the research are used to show in which way ESP teachers can make teaching/learning process compliant with students’ professional needs, and also to justify the application of the suggested approach to delivering similar LSP courses. Some practical recommendation on classroom and self-study activities and material sources are provided, with special emphasis on the appropriate combination of the ICT assisted and traditional learning. The last but not the least aim of the article is to demonstrate through thought-provoking examples how the linguistic competence of ESP teachers,  which is viewed as a prerequisite for delivering a specific purpose language course, can be applied to foster learners’ cognitive and communication skills, as well as their awareness of cultural conventions and peculiarities.

The presentation supplements the theoretical insights into certain linguistic features of legal English with practical recommendations on teaching/learning it in the classroom or beyond.