English For Lawyers: Analyzing and Evaluating the Local Law Syllabus and Law Student Needs.

English Language and the Local Law Syllabus

The global status of English has made learning English language indispensable for Pakistani professionals and students irrespective of their academic backgrounds and official needs. A comprehensive investigation of professional and academic needs of law learners and lawyers for English was conducted to gauge the utility of compulsory English syllabus designed for law.

Needs Analysis was administered with two distinctly structured questionnaires on 150 lawyers and 150 law students to discover the most common linguistic demands. This study is conducted into two phases, first stage includes needs analysis and the second stage consist of syllabus evaluation. A Mixed Method research approach is deployed to obtain maximum insight by having in-depth interviews with five teachers and two curriculum designers in order to explore the syllabus design mechanisms and pedagogical gaps present in the existing English syllabus taught in Year 1 LL. B in all affiliated law colleges of University of Punjab.

The findings indicate that linguistic needs of lawyers and law learners are very basic, primarily based on syntactical knowledge, grammatical accuracy and lexical proficiency. However, the syllabus offered for English language fails to meet the required professional and academic needs. Consequently, teachers also feel difficulty in applying innovative pedagogical techniques dependent largely on the limited syllabus. The research also highlighted the need of competent English language teachers identified by the course developers as a prerequisite for a more dynamic syllabus.

The curriculum evaluation of an English syllabus which is designed specifically for the law students doing LL. B degree affiliated with Punjab University has been the target interest of the researcher. The researcher is very keen to see the utility of added questions or parts which are made compulsory in this curriculum. Furthermore, researcher is also eager to see the relationship between theory and practice. The research questions are primarily two as stated below:

• To which extent the current English syllabus of LL. B Year 1 meet learner’s needs?

• What are the needs of Law learners in regards to English language Skills?

Research Methods Explained

Needs Analysis have been variedly defined by numerous linguists emphasizing its crucial importance in evaluation of an English Language curriculum. Brown (1995) defines Needs Analysis as the systematic collection and analysis of all subjective and objective information necessary to define and validate defensible curriculum purposes that satisfy the language learning requirements of students within the context of institutions which influence the learning and teaching situation.

The origins of the word curriculum are from the Latin meaning a racing chariot and from which is derived a racetrack, or a course to be run, and from this, a course of study (Ross, 2000, p.8). Stemming from this core meaning, there has emerged through the decades of research a large corpus of work on curriculum. Curriculum is a reflection and a product of the society and can contribute to the change in the society. It is necessary to reflect on the issues to reach decisions in a dynamic and responsive curriculum development process. Curriculum is a very deep concept which encompasses numerous factors of social, educational and philosophical framework of an educational paradigm (Nunan 2000). Philip Phenix (1962) defined the curriculum as what is studied, the “content” or “subject matter” of instruction.

This study evaluates the syllabus to gain deeper insight to the evaluation adding context, input, process and product evaluation. The LL.B curriculum is evaluated on the foundational lines where context is targeted through interview with the course developers.

Research paradigm Mixed method is an approach to inquiry that combines both qualitative and quantitative forms in a study. Thus, it is more than simply collecting and analyzing both kinds of data; it also the use of both paradigms in tandem so that overall strength of the study gets greater than either qualitative and quantitative research (Creswell and Plano 2007, Clark, 2007). ‘Mixed method research involves different combinations of qualitative and quantitative research either at the data collection or at the analysis level. Typical example: consecutive and interrelated questionnaire and interview studies (Dörnyei, 2007, p..24)’. Moreover, Reams and Twale (2008, p.133) suggest that mixed method design is “necessary to uncover information and perspective, increase corroboration of the data and render less biased and more accurate conclusions”.

Implications of the Study

This study brings forth the well-knit nexus between academic and professional needs of the lawyers; firstly, it certainly explains that law learners want to learn English by knowing the fact that their elementary level of English is poor, the same had been observed in lawyers as well. Lawyers are aware of their professional language challenges’ they need English for countless reasons including reading, speaking, writing, drafting, meeting clients, pleading, so on and so forth.

They are clearly self-aware that tenses are the steppingstone on which they can develop their language proficiency but unfortunately, they do not find substantial academic support to deal with this. This study shows that lawyer’s English language needs are variably extensive however; this existing syllabus can meet the language needs only to some extent.

English language teachers provided invaluable insights to evaluate the merits and demerits of the syllabus. The researcher found convergence in the data obtained through the language instructors during the study; which is divided into 4 main categories which are as follows:

The researcher had discovered during the in-depth interviews with 5 English language instructors in her study and they all identified one very significant area that is background knowledge of the students or the educational background of students at the time of entering for law. They shared the prior educational history is largely impactful on the language acquisition process.

All the language instructors were agreed categorically that the grammatical and syntactical knowledge of the law students is poor. The study reveals that on the question of the “syllabus revision” all 5 language instructors said ‘Yes’ without any hesitation. Teachers unanimously said a curriculum should be interesting and activity-based with opportunity for a teacher to act as a facilitator. Teachers highlighted the value of real-life application of the syllabus and failure to meet the academic and professional needs of lawyers.

They further purposed that this syllabus needs to be modified. The language instructors heavily emphasized upon the profound connection between appropriate syllabus and the instructional practices. Teachers highlighted that syllabus must provide liberty to the instructor to experiment and develop language in a broader spectrum. They suggested that if presentation and creative writing becomes a compulsory part of the syllabus, learning can be optimized.

The only variance spotted among the entire teacher’s data is opinion of a teacher who suggested that there is no need for any specific syllabus for lawyers rather we need activity-based and real-life learning tasks to promote and support English language acquisition.

In addition, teachers also questioned further that why short stories are part of compulsory reading for the law learners as it doesn’t match with the professional needs of the legal arena. Therefore, they proposed that compulsory case laws should be incorporated instead to familiarize law learners with the practical aspect of their profession

Syllabus developers also shared insights and expert opinions on syllabus designing and the process and procedures involved in it. The researcher recorded the information under these six categories;

• Aims of the Syllabus
• Key areas of the Syllabus
• Curriculum and Pedagogical Techniques
• Revision/Modification of the Syllabus
• Dearth of Competent English Teachers
• Needs Analysis Mechanisms

Course developers described that syllabus need to be objective and the main aim of the syllabus is related to apprising students with the subject they intend to get command on. If syllabus does not bring a clear aim of raising awareness and knowledge of the subject the syllabus cannot incorporate effective learning, she said. However, it may vary teacher to teacher that how he/she wants to build understanding of the subject.

Course developers also explained that syllabus must be appropriate to the level or the level of most of the students because designing a course suitable to the level of the learners is the key ingredient of the syllabus. They further explained that topic of the syllabus and the depth of the topics is largely dependent on the level of the learners. Moreover, Course developers illustrated that key areas of a syllabus are numerous and contextual including the level of the target learners, background knowledge of the learners and the awareness of the fundamental needs of the learners. When syllabus is designed in isolation by not taking account of the above-mentioned integral areas the syllabus turns out to be a futile document they told.

Course developers also acknowledged that this English language Skills Syllabus needs serious revisions and it looks inessential in its current form. They also expressed their challenge that in Pakistan there is no systematic method of designing any syllabus. Although, there is a board of studies and academic council that functions as a platform for all the key decisions regarding curriculum designing and evaluation, yet it is not regulated properly. When any syllabus is designed or finalized after the tedious and lengthy procedure it is generally never easy to alter or modify the syllabus for further changes. Therefore, Syllabus designing and evaluation of a syllabi is the most neglected areas in Pakistani education sector. However, they still believe that this syllabus should be modified with more comprehensive set of components or units to assist more practical learning from the lawyers stand point.

Furthermore, Course developers highlighted the urgency regarding competent English language teachers to transmit syllabus efficacy. They also elucidated that many a times certain important revisions and modifications are only not made possible by the board of studies because there are no skilled teachers to harness the desired results. In addition, they disclosed that syllabus is not evaluated and reviewed primarily because there is no incentive for those who go extra mile and there is un-accountability for being ignorant of the due course of job. They also agreed on the lack of availability of competent English teachers.

Both the course developers agreed that there should be a proper mechanism to gauge possible needs and expectations of learners from any prescribed curriculum. They expressed that implied or indirect method of needs analysis is been practiced by the board of studies in the shape of the most senior faculty as a member of Academic council. Additionally, they mentioned that syllabus designing is a faculty-based activity which allows teachers to make use of their experience and observation to make a more dynamic syllabus.

Recommendations

• This English language syllabus needs complete revision.

• English language syllabus needs to be motivating and interesting for the law learners by adding real life activities as a compulsory part of the syllabus. For instance, presentation, case study, creative writing and audio-visual aids should be incorporated as classroom activities.

• Grammar is significantly essential for learning English and law learners lack the basic knowledge of the English language, but grammar needs to be taught according to the level of the learners by making it challenging enough that learners take interest and assess their language development.

• Grammar exercises are outdated with limited learning outcomes. These need to be upgraded to the extent where a law learner grasps the basic concept using both lower and higher order thinking skills

• Lawyers need excellent writing and reading skills; however, this existing syllabus does not harness creative writing. In addition, reading short stories does not attract law learners towards reading. Instead of short stories if leading/landmark case list is added in the syllabus that might increase the level of interest among law learners.

• Writing dialogue is not adequate to use legal vocabulary or wide range of sentence structure; due to this learner tend to ignore the subject and prefer cramming rather than free writing. However, if opinion writing, drafting and report writing are made mandatory these areas will allow learners to exercise not only to use existing lexical resources but they will look for more language awareness to meet the task.

• Article reading and then re-writing that article in one’s own language can also be very interesting addition to the syllabus in particular focusing on writing skills development. This will enhance their general knowledge and language simultaneously.

• Speaking is highly essential skill for a lawyer to present his case; on the contrary if we look at this syllabus it does not address this need at all. Speaking needs fluency and coherence with correct pronunciation which later translate into confident speaking ability. However, this English language skills syllabus is silent about this essential area. The syllabus needs to add presentations which can be in groups or individual with specific marks so those law learners learn to communicate fluently.

• To aid speaking skills there need to be compulsory listening components in the syllabus that can be designed by recording some specific landmark judgments, language audios and some you-tube language learning talks to help learners pronounce words in more accurate fashion. With this increased exposure of English language will act as a catalyst to the process of language learning resulting in more functional vocabulary with clarity and ability for effective usage.

• Authentic texts written for the real world by the native writers need to be added to the syllabus in addition with authentic listening tapes designed for real purposes and not for language learning which will help develop writing and speaking skills to a great extent.

Conclusion

This research study was comprehensive in nature and managed to identify future areas of research. It has provided an extensive examination of a syllabus from its contextual stage to the product stage making it possible to have discursive evaluation of the English language syllabus for the law learners. During this study many factors have been highlighted playing pivotal role in the development of appropriate curriculum design. In addition, the strengths of this current syllabus have also been evaluated with the help of course developers.

Overall, this study has been solution-oriented; and this article has provided the analysis of the research and recommendations to allow for a better language skill for Law students.