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Nebulous Skullduggery: EAP and the long arm of the law

Nebulous Skullduggery: EAP and the long arm of the law. Dilys Thorp & Frank Cao Yu. Lectures: idiomatic language. to tell a whopper pushing up the daisies …a matter for snortsville … bureaucracy strikes in spades a tidy sum… a pretty penny zilch…. diddly squat…piddling...not a bean

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Nebulous Skullduggery: EAP and the long arm of the law

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  1. Nebulous Skullduggery:EAP and the long arm of the law Dilys Thorp & Frank Cao Yu

  2. Lectures: idiomatic language • to tell a whopper • pushing up the daisies • …a matter for snortsville… • bureaucracy strikes in spades • a tidy sum… a pretty penny • zilch….diddly squat…piddling...not a bean • to pocket the money • willy nilly • do the donkey work • to cut corners

  3. the whole caboodle • no skin off your nose • sauce for the goose… sauce for the gander • the law is an ass • Sod’s law • sod this for a game of soldiers • odds and sods • a cat in hell’s chance • to put the cart before the horse • to keep mum • to sit on the fence

  4. It’s a no brainer • nerds and anoraks • a clodhopper… a halfwit…gormless…he’s certifiable… a chinless wonder…the blighter…. the mucker…some Jack in the office……anally retentive… • they wanted to guard their arses… • …the backroom boys… • …they screwed up… and the Judge screwed up

  5. Cultural References • News of the Screws • ‘this bit from Islington, Guardian reader of course, walking on Hampstead Heath..’ • Uncle Sam • Ali Baba • to play Shylock • to play Solomon • Alice in Wonderland • A Golden Oldie

  6. The National Trust • Sothebys • a Van Dyke… a Rembrandt… An Old Master • Stuart… Georgian… Victorian…. … Lloyd George • a gong • Mrs Moneypenny • Ghadaffi and his merry men • The Marx Brothers • it’s Gospel • Pontius Pilate • a Delphic section

  7. On the other hand… • NOTE: students enjoy colourful language – even if they don’t fully understand it. • Colourful, with clear attitude,  more memorable, deeper learning . • Making lectures bland is not the solution!

  8. Lectures: reading a slide • Slides from law lecture

  9. Remoteness “Where two parties have made a contract which one of them has broken, the damages which the other party ought to receive in respect of such breach of contract should be such as may fairly and reasonably be considered either arising naturally i.e. according to the usual course of things, from such breach, of contract itself, or such as may reasonably be supposed to have been in the contemplation of the parties, at the time they made the contract, as the probable result of the breach of it.” (Hadley v. Baxendale (1854) 9 Exch 341 Per Alderson B) 88 words

  10. Account of Profits? “The court will have regard to all the circumstances, including the subject matter of the contract, the purpose of the contractual provision which has been breached, the circumstances in which the breach occurred, the consequences of the breach and the circumstances in which relief is being sought. A useful general guide, although not exhaustive, is whether the plaintiff had a legitimate interest in preventing the defendant's profit-making activity and, hence, in depriving him of his profit.” (Attorney General v Blake (Jonathan Cape Ltd Third Party) [2001] 1 A.C. 268 at 285 per Lord Nicholls) S1: 47 words; S2: 29 words

  11. Reading Features of legal texts • Long sentences with embedded relative clauses, often with little punctuation • Latin terms • Technical terms (equitable estoppel; unconscionability) • Legal jargon (‘without prejudice to’) • Old-fashioned words not much in general use ( eg ‘save’ = except) • Pairs of words with a reciprocal relationship ( lessor/lessee, promissor/promissee) • Special meanings for words in ordinary use ( eg ‘the judge determined the facts of the case – determined=decided) • Use of ‘shall’ to impose an obligation/duty; also in a directory sense (notice of an appeal shall be filed in 28 days)

  12. English for Law in HE Studies (ESAP book) Average sentence length: 19 words Paragraph length: 4-8 sentences Text length: 1 page

  13. Law Quarterly Review • Average sentence length: 41words • Paragraph length: 15 sentences • Text length: 10 pages dense single spacing

  14. Concluding remarks • High English language score ≠ coping on a M level programme • International sts as ‘canaries’ – NS students also challenged • Shared responsibilities: • Language tchg: enhance sts’ linguistic competence & learning strategies. • The model of support in Law – good but hard to extend large scale • Subject staff: good to spice things up… not necessary to dumb down and make culturally bland. But increased awareness of how idiom rich & culturally laden the input is - Gloss things?

  15. it raised a few eyebrows • a woolly area • a spanner in the works • a spoke in the wheel • gotta be savvy • plug the holes

  16. Language from a visit to the Magistrates’ Court Idioms in the cold light of day between a rock and a hard place six of one and half a dozen of the other

  17. Colloquial language taking the mickey end of story how to play it

  18. Non standard forms (spoken language) …’e was sat there …I was stood behind her …it wasn’t no big deal …I went ‘ I aint drinking the beer’ …I go , ‘leave me alone’ …’e goes, “you’re not allowed to drink in this area”

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