Meeting International Law Students’ Demands for Their Professional Foreign Language Learning

Abstract

Introduction. In today’s world, the profession of international lawyer has acquired a new status. This fact inspired the authors of the article to think about the need to analyse the foreign language competencies which international law students should obtain. Aim. The objective of this article is to identify the best time to start the legal foreign language course at international law faculties; the competencies which law students acquire and want to acquire; and an assessment of the significance of the competencies acquired in the course of the legal foreign language training of law students. Materials and methods. This article is a study based on an analysis of Russian and foreign scientists’ related works, and the results obtained during the surveys of 3rd- and 4th-year international law students at MGIMO studying a language. Both comparative and system analysis methods were used. Results. This research reveals the students’ views on the best time to start learning the foreign language, the foreign language competencies acquired and wanted by the students, and their significance for their future careers. Scientific novelty. Identification and analysis of the language competencies necessary for international lawyers’ professional activities, with aim of improving foreign language studies in this context, with the results for the first time based on students’ opinions. Practical significance. The results of the present study can serve as a basis to develop new approaches and methods to improve the training of international law students and to create specialty foreign language training programs for non-linguistic students.

Keywords

• professional foreign language
• international lawyer
• professional competence
• early professionalization
• vocational-oriented education
• international law