Adjunct Professor of English Honored with Outstanding Teaching Award
Professor Marleen Hein-Dunne’s experience teaching English as a second language spans many continents and cultures. She served as a lecturer in American literature and writing at the University of Bonn in Germany and has designed and taught intensive legal English courses at law schools around the world.
At American University Washington College of Law, Professor Hein-Dunne works with international LL.M. students to help them develop substantial legal reading and comprehension skills.
The law school has recently presented Professor Hein-Dunne with 2014-2015 Adjunct Teaching Award for her outstanding teaching, commitment to student mentoring, and exceptional creativity and innovation in instruction.
We talked to Professor Hein-Dunne about English as a global language, the differences in legal writing cultures, and her students’ success.
We live in a globalized world, where law firms expand internationally, and practitioners move from one office to another. What role does language play in such an environment?
International law firms need lawyers who speak and write the local language and are also able to express themselves in clear concise English – the lingua franca of international communication. Our American lawyers must also work constructively with clients in a new cultural environment. This requires our graduates to speak other languages and have a first-hand experience of other cultures.
Both native and non-native English speakers need to learn legal terminology, but international students also face different complications. What are the advantages and challenges of being a second-language law student in the United States?
One advantage that our international students in the LL.M program have is that they have already completed their legal studies in their own countries. They are able to compare their own legal systems with that of the United States and recognize similarities in certain areas of the law which facilitates learning. A second advantage is that they are immersed in the English language during their studies here which speeds up the language learning process.
As for challenges, not only are our students required to learn American legal discourse, including legal terminology, case analysis, and instrumental legal writing, but they are required to do so in a second language. In the first months of the program, our students struggle to navigate in a foreign culture, while striving to perfect their knowledge of English and tackling demanding reading and writing assignments.
What role do second language factors (culture, background, prior writing experiences, etc.) play in how international students construct and compose their legal writing assignments?
In academic writing, we require students to express their main idea in a thesis statement, which is broken down into subordinate ideas supported by strong evidence. In instrumental legal writing, the method is similar. Other writing cultures often present ideas differently, some preferring to build suspense and introduce the idea at the end of the paper. It takes some doing to persuade our students of the value of our method.
Another difference is that our legal writing culture is reader-centered. That means that legal writer must present their ideas clearly, simply, and concisely to help the reader understand, a goal not always shared by other writing cultures.
Finally, some legal cultures encourage students to copy from authoritative sources, which is considered plagiarism here. It is important to explain to students the importance of intellectual property and attribution. It is also crucial to convince students that only when they are able to express borrowed ideas in their own words and have credited those sources are they able to build on these ideas in their own work.
What is the first thing you teach your students?
The first thing I teach my students is the willingness to make a mistake. Students submit several drafts for a writing assignment and are given multiple opportunities to present orally. Only through practice and learning from mistakes do students improve their language skills and gain confidence. My mantra is: rewriting, rewriting. I also require them to read a news article every day and report at the beginning of class on the news. This keeps them aware of what is happening in the world and how these events relate to the world of law.
I also encourage them to share their knowledge of their country and legal culture with their classmates. Their first oral presentation focuses on a legal problem in their country, which generates great interest and many questions in class. I also point out that they are an asset in all their classes at the law school, providing their classmates with a personal glimpse into their world. When they reach out, they form friendships which are mutually beneficial, even later in professional life – we call it “networking.” These friendships can endure a lifetime.
What were some of your students’ and your biggest accomplishments during your teaching experience?
My students face many challenges in the first months in the law school. They often question their ability to meet these challenges. I watch them gradually manage their assignments, share ideas in class, and grow more confident. When they graduate from my class and are awarded a language certificate, their accomplishment is a source of great satisfaction for them and for me. After finishing their LL.M degree, they return to their countries as self-assured lawyers with a good understanding of American legal thinking and culture.
Recently, I met a former student in the library on the main campus. I had not seen him since he completed my class and I asked whether he had finished his LL.M degree. He replied, “Professor Hein, I am now here in Washington as a diplomat at the Embassy of Togo.” When students return to visit me as government officials, diplomats, or professors I feel privileged to have been able to accompany them on their journey during an important experience that helped them shape their lives.