Eighth Biennial National Conference of the Association for Academic Language and Learning (AALL) 29 - 30 November 2007
Abstract
Communicating legal discourse to international students: embedding targeted support for law subjects from VET through to HE.
Tao Bak and Helen Murphy
English Language Institute and Student Learning Unit, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia
Helen.Murphy@vu.edu.au
This paper describes the design of a continuum of embedded support for international students who are studying business law subjects as part of a four year course, culminating in a degree in Business, at both onshore and offshore locations at Victoria University. The support strategies specifically target the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Certificate and Diploma levels with continued support through the Higher Education (HE) levels of the qualification.
International students coming into business courses often have minimal familiarity with many of the foundational concepts and epistemological understandings required to engage with the law discipline. In order to facilitate support in this discipline for international students, initially, supplementary materials were provided, however, this approach was limited in developing systematically students’ understanding of legal discourse. Consequently, a decision was made to embed a variety of materials into the curriculum, to provide students with the opportunity to build an indepth understanding of legal discourse. Key tasks were embedded in both the VET law module and the HE law subject, systematically developing students’ research skills, their understanding of legal discourse, and critical and analytical skills. Likewise, support in the EAP Certificate level is also provided for these international students and focuses on the development of discipline-specific language proficiency as well as building awareness of key features of academic genres. These understandings underpin students’ acquisition of content knowledge in the Diploma modules, providing an important foundation for their higher education studies.
The project described accords with recommendations from the AVCC Project report (VU 2005) which stresses the need for systematic and explicit development of English language and academic skills for successful pathways for international students at Victoria University.
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