Publication details
Testing Linguistic Mediation in Professional Contexts
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Regardless of the LSP field, the future professional needs of university students will very likely include the linguistic skill of mediation, i.e. being able to communicate complex professional issues in language accessible to lay audiences. This provides a compelling reason for teachers to incorporate both intra- and cross-linguistic mediation skills activities into their teaching. As a logical next step, mediation tasks also serve as a relevant component of LSP tests. This presentation will demonstrate how mediation activities can be successfully integrated into credit tests and exam papers, with examples from Legal English. We will show self-developed, tried-and-tested intralinguistic mediation tasks, as well as a recent addition to the end-of-course exam for the subject English for Lawyers. This new task involves cross-language mediation, where the test-taker must process communication from the court in L1 and explain to a client, in L2, the legal matter and potential consequences they may face. Some of the challenges teachers and testers face will be shared, along with strategies developed for students following the initial piloting phase. These strategies aim to help students manage mediation tasks effectively, both in testing contexts and, more importantly, in their future professional lives. The skill to provide clear explanations is crucial as it may significantly alter the course of a client’s life. |