TV series and movies in the teaching of legal english vocabulary

Abstract

This project was the result of searching for a meaningful way in which to teach Legal English. This research study examines how movies and TV series can be used for this purpose. This project was conducted at Universidad Santo Tomás, Bogotá branch, with a group of 22 students studying their ninth semester of Law with an Upper Intermediate level of proficiency. In previous courses, these students had to learn legal concepts in their L1 (Spanish) and this course was their first one dealing with legal concepts in their L2 (English). TV series such as The Simpsons and Shark were used for this purpose as well as extracts from movies namely Liar Liar and The Green Mile. In order to take advantage of these types of videos, several workshops were designed. A Qualitative Action Research Study was used to conduct this project. In order to collect data diaries and surveys were used and video transcripts were taken from the students’ trials. The findings of this project suggest the manner in which students learned and were also able to enjoy this experience. The researcher found a meaningful way to teach legal vocabulary. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the participants did not only learn legal vocabulary but also legal content. Thus, when movies and TV series are well exploited, they become an excellent aid for the language class.