COMPARATIVE LEGAL LINGUISTICS

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COMPARATIVE LEGAL LINGUISTICS

• INTRODUCTION

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Lecturer

• Prof.dr.sc. Lelija Socanac
• Office hours Monday 16.30 17.30 h, Gunduliceva
  10, Room 5
• E-mail lelijasocanac_at_yahoo.com
• lelija.socanac_at_pravo.hr

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LITERATURE

• Mattila, Heikki E.S., Comparative Legal
  Linguistics .- Burlington Ashgate, 2006

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ADDITIONAL READING

• Bhatia, Vijay K. et al. (eds.), Multilingual and
  Multicultural Contexts of Legislation an
  International Perspective .- Peter Lang, 2003.
• Bhatia et al. (eds), Legal Discourse in
  Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts .- Peter
  Lang, 2003
• Bhatia, F (ed.), Vagueness in Normative Texts .-
  Peter Lang, 2005
• Eades, Diana, Sociolinguistics and the legal
  process. Multilingual matters, 2010.
• Extra, Guus Gorter, Durk, Multilingual Europe
  Facts and policies. Mouton de Gruyter, 2008.
• Gotti, Maurizio, Giannoni D. (eds.) New Trends in
  Specialized Discourse Analysis .- Peter Lang,
  2006
• Kniffka, Hannes. Working in language and law A
  German perspective. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
• Olsson, John, Forensic Linguistics.- London
  Continuum, 2008.
• Olsson, John, Word Crime Solving crime through
  forensic linguistics. London Continuum, 2009.
• Shuy, Roger W. Linguistics in the Courtroom a
  practical guide. Oxford University Press, 2006.
• Shuy, Roger W., Fighting over words Language and
  civil law cases. Oxford University Press, 2008.
• Shuy, Roger W. The language of defamation cases.
  Oxford University Press, 2010.
• Shuy, Roger W. The language of perjury cases .-
  Oxford University Press, 2011.
• Šarcevic, Susan, New Approache to Legal
  Translation. Kluwer Law International 2000.
• Wagner, Anne Cacciaguidi-Fahy (eds.) Legal
  Language and the Search for Clarity.- Peter Lang,
  2006

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TIMETABLE Monday 14.00-15.30

• 6 Oct. Introduction
• 13 Oct Introduction to language and linguistics
• 20 Oct Phonetics/phonology Morphology Syntax
• 27 Oct. Semantics Pragmatics Discourse
• 3 Nov. Introduction to legal linguistics
• 17 Nov. Characteristics and Functions of Legal
  Language
• 24 Nov. Legal Terminology and Legal Translation
• 1 Dec. The Heritage of Legal Latin
• 8 Dec. Legal French
• 15 Dec. Legal German
• 22 Dec. Legal English

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TIMETABLE Monday 14.00-15.30

• 12 Jan. Changes in Legal-linguistic Dominance in
  the International Arena
• 19 Varia
• 26 Varia

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Assesment

• One semester 60 points
• Attendance 30 points (10 for active
  participation)
• Seminar paper 10 points (5 for excellence)
• Presentation 10 points (5 for excellence)
• Written exam 15 points
• Oral exam 15 points

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Suggested topics

• Legal languages
• Legal terminology
• Legal translation
• Characteristics of legal discourse
• Legal linguistics and the search for clarity
• Language in the courtroom
• Forensic linguistics
• Language legislation
• Linguistic human rights
• Language policy and planning official languages,
  minority languages

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PREPARING YOUR PAPER

• 1. Collect as much material as you can
• 2. Organize your materials
• 3. Structure your paper
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Elaboration
• 3. Conclusion
• References

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STRUCTURE

• Name
• TITLE
• Abstract
• (A short summary of what you are going to write
  about)
• 1. Introduction.
• 1.1. Definition
• 1.2. Historical Background/ or Theoretical
  Background
• 1.3. Methodology
• 2. The main argument
• 3. Conclusion
• References
• Oakland, John (2000), British Civilization an
  Introduction .- 4th ed .- London New York
  Routledge.
• SUMMARY

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Quoting

• In the modern sense, legal linguistics is a
  discipline that has only recently become
  established. However, legal language has aroused
  interest for thousands of years, from various
  angles (Mattila 2006 6)
• Mattila, Heikki E.S. (2006), Comparative Legal
  Linguistics .- Burlington Ashgate.

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PARAGRAPHING

• A paragraph several sentences contained in the
  topic (or key) sentence
• The topic sentence usually the first one,
  contains the main idea or topic
• The other sentences support it by adding further
  information or examples
• A paragraph should link logically with previous
  and following paragraphs

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PAPERS P-O-W-E-R

• Produce (something worth saying)
• Organize
• Write
• Edit
• Refine

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PRESENTATION

• 1. Think of your audience
• 2. Structure your presentation
• a) Start by saying what you are going to talk
  about
• b) focus on the most important points with good
  illustrative examples
• c) sum up

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Structure Beginning

• Introduce yourself (Good morning/afternoon/evening
  . My name is...Im going to speak to you today
  about...)
• Make an impact say something that will make the
  audience want to listen to you
• Give a preview of the argument you are going to
  present

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Structure Middle

• Divide speech into a few manageable points (Im
  going to make a couple of points today. Briefly,
  these are...
• Place them in a logical order
• Demonstrate how each point contributes to the
  main theme of the presentation

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End

• Indicate that you have reached the end of your
  presentation (And finally... In conclusion...)
• Summarise the key points of your presentation
  (By way of summary...)
• End with a clear, decisive statement (The most
  important effect of all this is...)

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Structure

• 1) Beginning start by saying what you are going
  to talk about (Tell them what youre going to
  tell them)
• 2) Middle most important points with good
  illustrative examples (Tell them)
• 3) End sum up (Tell them again what youve told
  them)
• 4) Invite questions

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Points to remember

• 1. Check and practise the pronunciation of
  difficult words
• 2. Pay attention to your intonation
• 3. If possible, do not read (using notes is
  preferable to reading a full text)
• 4. Use visual aids, or write on the blackboard to
  stress your point
• 5. Dont forget about your TIMING!!! (10 minutes)

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Checklist Preparation

• Consider your audience
• What are they interested in?
• What do they need to know?
• What is the best way of presenting it?

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Ppt

• Check the equipment
• DO NOT put too much text on a slide (no more than
  6 lines)
• Text large enough for everyone to see
• Be careful about background colours and pictures

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Throughout

• Project your voice so that everyone can hear you
• Maintain eye contact with your audience
• Use visual aids to illustrate your points
• Use simple and clear language
• Eliminate anything not essential to the points
  you are making

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Team presentations

• Choose who will lead the presentation
• Divide your topics
• Rehearse how each person will hand over to the
  next
• Identify what each person will be doing while
  another is speaking

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PRESENTATIONS KISS

• Keep
• It
• Short and
• Simple

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A few quotations

• Writing is the hardest way of earning a living,
  with the posible exception of wrestling
  alligators. (Olin Miller)
• It usually takes me more than three weeks to
  prepare a good spontaneus speech. (Mark Twain)