Ricks, S E --- "Some Strategies to Teach Reluctant Talkers to Talk about Law" [2006] LegEdDig 16; (2006) 14(3) Legal Education Digest 21

Some Strategies to Teach Reluctant Talkers to Talk About Law

S E Ricks

[2006] LegEdDig 16; (2006) 14(3) Legal Education Digest 21

54 J Leg Educ 4, 2004, pp 570–587

Talking confidently about law is an important skill in legal practice, yet law teachers rarely devote much attention to developing students’ oral skills when fluency does not come to them naturally. An empirical study of recent law graduates showed both that oral and written communication skills are deemed to be the very most important skills necessary for beginning lawyers and could have been — but had not been — taught in law school. Learning to talk about law can be important to success within law school as well. One assumption underlying the question-and-answer format widely used in our classrooms is that talking about law is an effective way to learn and to demonstrate understanding of legal concepts. Class participation may be a first step in establishing the mentoring relationships with faculty that can lead to judicial clerkships and other jobs in legal practice.

While many law teachers reward fluent and frequent talkers, helping to groom them for leadership positions inside the law school and beyond, they focus less attention on students who are not as verbally quick. Teaching should focus on trying to bring every student in the class up to a minimal level of competency in talking and writing about legal problems. A key step is trying to teach every student to become comfortable talking about law in front of an audience.

There are various reasons why some students do not speak in class. Many people, both male and female, do not take naturally to public speaking. Second, even if law students intuitively grasp the importance of learning to talk about law, they often feel intimidated and distressed in the classroom and consequently are reluctant to speak in class. Third, some students do not recognise the value of learning to talk about law. Finally, there are cultural and political reasons why some law students feel intimidated by the classroom dynamic or choose silence over participation.

If learning to talk about law is important to success in law school and later in law practice, law teachers should put more emphasis on oral communication skills. Whatever the sources of some students’ reluctance to speak in class, published critiques of the law school classroom and culture help to identify ways to make the classroom more inclusive: affirmation by the teacher; affirmation by classmates; reduction of the anxiety accompanying classroom performance, in part by creating opportunities for low-pressure oral presentations and allowing rehearsal opportunities; creation of opportunities to repeatedly engage the same doctrinal concepts; recognition by the teacher of a wider variety of speakers; and teachers’ assistance to help the students feel a valued part of the law school.

Call on students by name as early in the semester as possible. Listen carefully to student responses and try to identify good points the student has made, both at the time of the comment and whenever the point is relevant later in that class or in future classes. Reluctant talkers may appreciate a moment to prepare; try naming a student for a response shortly before you pose the question. Many law teachers who call on students have successfully blended the Socratic method with collaborative learning techniques, giving students the safety of a small group within the classroom.

The development of oral communication skills in the first year of law school may be encouraged by an early successful experience. Reluctant talkers may experience less anxiety if they are required to speak in class than if they are given the option of remaining silent — as long as they have advance warning. Removing surprise about both when the student will be expected to answer questions and what the first few questions will be can go even further to reduce anxiety for reluctant talkers.

Guest speakers provide another low-pressure opportunity to require students to speak publicly. Students can be assigned to introduce speakers to the class, and to ask the guest questions. In addition to giving her first-years a few minutes in class to confer with their law firms before being asked to speak in front of the whole group, the author builds in other rehearsal opportunities before classroom speaking. Alternatively, the rehearsal can take place in class. Paradoxically, the most stylised form of classroom speaking — oral arguments — can be turned into lower-risk opportunities to talk if you limit the scope of the argument, the time permitted for it, or the time permitted for advance preparation. Where it is feasible, an effective technique to teach a student how to talk about law is a one-on-one roleplay between students and teacher in the teacher’s office, without an audience and with immediate feedback for the student.

Several methods of increasing student participation in class fall into the category of treating students with common decency, a behaviour that is directly responsive to certain critiques of faculty/student interactions. Regardless of the race, gender, or background of the student, one effective response to this critique is to make a conscious effort to act otherwise. Peer affirmation, inside and outside class, may encourage students to participate in class. One simple but effective affirmation technique is to applaud — literally. Regardless of a student’s background, law school can be an intimidating experience, and too much stress or fear can inhibit performance. Law teachers can help by humanising themselves.

Praising effort or noticing development in oral skills can be as simple as saying ‘good job!’ during or after class or following up a demonstration of significant improvement with a note or an e-mail. More significant rewards for improvement may include an offer to contact a potential summer employer on the student’s behalf or an offer to be listed as a resumé reference. We can and should teach reluctant talkers to talk about law in front of others. Talking confidently about law is rewarded in law school and valued in the legal job market. Allowing students to opt out of talking in class may be a disservice to them. Silent students may not be as engaged by the material, may have less chance of enhancing their resumé and will miss out on opportunities to develop oral skills that are important in legal practice. If students rarely participate in class, each time they do may take on enormous significance to their overall feelings of success in law school.