American Legal Profession For Beginners Learners Curriculum Design And Teaching Materials Compilation

As learning Chinese as a second language is increasingly specialized and vocationalized, a huge demand for Chinese for Specific Purposes (CSP) exists in both domestic and overseas markets. However, teaching practice, theoretical research and textbook compilation in the field of CSP are all insufficient and far from meeting the needs of learners. The discipline of legal Chinese, as a branch of CSP, is especially underdeveloped and almost blank.This paper focuses on teaching Chinese to foreign legal professionals, especially legal professionals in the United States. An overall and exploring research is conducted on the theory and teaching of legal Chinese as a second language.The current status of teaching and research of legal Chinese domestically and abroad is surveyed and analyzed. The results reveal that many foreign legal professionals have a strong interest in studying Chinese, but regretfully both teaching and research activities on international Chinese teaching to foreign legal professionals are severely deficient. Even worse, although most foreign legal professionals anxious to learn Chinese are beginners, there is scarcely any legal Chinese course or textbook for beginning level learners so far.This paper probes the reason that the development of legal Chinese discipline lagged behind. The unique features of law major limit the scale of degree education of foreign legal students in China. Therefore, more weight should be given to Chinese teaching to foreign legal students who do not pursue a degree, especially those attending various short-term legal training courses. Furthermore, candidates of legal Chinese course should not be restricted to intermediate and advanced level Chinese learners, and legal Chinese courses designed for beginning and low level learners should be greatly encouraged.This paper explores the nature and classification of legal Chinese as a second language, proposes the conception of primary legal Chinese for beginning and low level learners, and discusses the theoretical foundation and practicability of primary legal Chinese.This paper conducts a questionnaire and interview survey on American participants of Chinese law summer programs as well as other American legal professionals, and performs needs analysis with respect to Chinese language learners in American legal field. Based on the survey results of and the facts of American legal field, detailed needs analysis is made on Chinese language learners in American legal field by using the framework of needs analysis of English for specific purposes.This paper designs legal Chinese courses for different types of Chinese language learners in American legal field. Chinese language learners in American legal field can be divided into the following three types:American participants of China law summer programs in China, local American law students and local American lawyers, and most of them are beginning level learners. The legal Chinese courses customized for them are beginning level, short-term intensive Chinese training courses for specific purposes. The course contents mainly include daily conversation, basic Chinese knowledge and lawyer vocational Chinese. The ratio of these parts varies for different types of learners.This paper further discusses how to compile a legal Chinese textbook and provides a sample lesson. The textbook is designed for beginning learners in American legal filed, and fits for the three types of learners stated above. The textbook contents include basic Chinese knowledge, daily conversation, legal conversation, Chinese culture, Chinese legal system and laws, etc.This paper explores the nature of legal Chinese discipline, reviews the current status of teaching and research of legal Chinese, and scrutinizes the Chinese learning needs of foreign legal professionals for the first time. Moreover, this paper first attempts to design legal Chinese courses and compile a legal Chinese textbook for beginning level Chinese language learners in foreign legal field. Thus the study of this paper is original in many aspects.The study of this paper will promote the Chinese language learning among foreign legal professionals, facilitate the development of legal Chinese discipline, and further enrich and perfect the discipline system of CSP.