Perspectives of Bilingual Training of Lawyers in Russia: The Demands of Time and Society

The paper is devoted to analyzing the necessity to teach law students legal rhetoric in two languages: in Russian and in English, with the purpose to facilitate constructive international cooperation for the conservation of historical and cultural heritage in the modern world, which corresponds to the priorities of the Concept of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation at present. The bilingual study of legal rhetoric, as any other curriculum discipline, will contribute to the education transition to a qualitatively new level. The term “bilingual training” began to be widely used in the 1990s. It used to be defined as “a purposeful process in which two languages are used when the second language becomes a means of training rather than the subject.” It is in the course of bilingual training that conditions are created for the formation of inter-subject integration, thought flexibility in relation to intercultural communication and the development of linguistic abilities in future lawyers, which is extremely important for professional activities in the field of jurisprudence. The bilingual course of rhetoric serves as a good example of developing professional competences and intercommunication pragmatic skills encouraging students to enhance their key professional competences along with deepening their awareness of procedural and substantive areas of law. The authors also dwell on the key elements of rhetorical analysis applicable to main professional competences in the context of the tertiary educational paradigm based on the accomplishments of domestic methodologists.