American Legal English: Using Language in Legal Contexts

Law is a profession that requires the ability to read critically, write well, synthesize sources from research, and speak concisely and clearly. American Legal English was developed to help non-native speakers improve their ability to understand and communicate in English with their legal counterparts around the world. The text is an introduction to basic legal information and the U.S. legal system that addresses the major areas of law and provides actual cases and statutes so that students can become familiar with legal syntax and legal vocabulary.

Each chapter addresses a particular area of the law and has three parts:

• Discovering Connections is a warm-up activity that focuses on non-legal concepts that lead into a discussion of the law.
• Legal Listening and Legally Speaking offer the opportunity to practice new vocabulary terms before they are used in context later in the chapter.
• Legal Thumbnail provides a simplified summary of the law with actual statutory and case materials.

In the second edition, the language development activities have been moved to the back of the book and are organized in the categories of writing, reading, oral communication, grammar, and culture.

 

Supplemental listening activities (21 tracks) are available via an audio CD (978-0-472-00325-9) or MP3 download (978-0-472-00360-0) is available for use in conjunction with this textbook. Running time: 000:40:02.

Debra S. Lee, J.D., teaches at Vanderbilt University; Charles Hall teaches at Alfaisal University; and Susan M. Barone teaches at Vanderbilt University.