Teaching and assessment of writing skills with the students of the Faculty of Law

摘要

Our teaching activity was constantly oriented towards developing speaking and writing skills that are so important for the legal professions. To develop writing skills they practised writing essays and standardized business letters, which favour concision, coherence and efficiency in communication. Since writing skills are so important in the legal careers, the current paper reveals the teaching methodology used to improve writing skills with the students of the Faculty of Law. Our observations and commentaries are based on significant types of teaching activities and assessment. We also analyse the writing section of the Language Proficiency Test for the admission to the Bachelora€?s Degree Exam, to check the efficiency of the study strategies in relation with the practical requirements of the future professional life. Students opted either for an essay or a letter. The essays were well structured; argumentation was most of the time clear, while in case of letters, in spite of their good content, the standardized form was seldom respected. It seems that students do not pay too much attention to the layout of a formal letter, being unaware of the cultural and social importance of writing properly a letter. Our Legal English Practical Course aims to develop harmoniously all four language skills, in a specific professional context. Nevertheless, taking into consideration their future professional needs, we should focus more on communication skills that may help them both with their present legal studies and their future legal careers.