Publication details
Virtual Cooperation Being Real: Enhancing Legal English Authenticity through a Cross-Border Hybrid Conference
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| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | Legal English courses at many universities, including Masaryk University (MU) in the Czech Republic and Nicolaus Copernicus University (NCU) in Poland, are often conducted within homogeneous groups of law students. This setting fails to provide authentic language practice, as students merely role-play scenarios requiring English for communication, such as advising English-speaking clients, negotiating international settlements, or presenting to international audiences. To address this issue, a series of online collaborative projects were initiated four years ago within the legal English courses at MU and NCU. These projects aimed to foster genuine English communication by having students from both universities work together on joint legal English tasks in mixed groups. This paper presented the outcomes of the most complex task undertaken: organizing and participating in a hybrid law students' conference. This initiative, which combined virtual cross-border interaction between MU and NCU students and in-person cooperation within home lessons, transformed the university courses to prepare students better for real-world legal environments where English is the lingua franca. The hybrid conference project had been implemented twice. This paper not only described the project but also presented the outcomes of action research conducted throughout its implementation. The research questions, which had evolved over two cycles, focused on assessing the project's value to students, identifying the most valuable aspects, and understanding the most significant challenges faced. The paper also explored future directions, highlighting plans for continuation and insights gained from the second research cycle. These insights included aspects of legal English which students develop during the project and how effectively they manage the dual challenge of improving their legal English skills and engaging in international virtual cooperation. The overall experience of the hybrid conference project had been overwhelmingly positive, as evidenced by feedback from both students and teachers. The feedback underscored the value of authentic practice and cross-cultural interaction in enhancing students' legal English proficiency. Participants reported that the experience not only improved their language skills but also provided valuable insights into different legal systems and perspectives, thereby enriching their overall legal education. |