Post by Stephen Horowitz, Professor of Legal English
I want to thank Senior Teacher Munisa Mirgiyazova and her colleagues and students at Tashkent State University of Law for inviting me again to present via Zoom to their law students yesterday. (I presented last December on the topic of the benefits of extensive reading and listening.) This May 11 presentation was titled “The Language of Analogy.” (link to Google Slides), and I greatly enjoyed the questions and discussion and look forward to future collaborations with TSUL.
The presentation discussed the role of analogy in US legal writing and argumentation within the US common law legal system. And then it focused on the language patterns and parts of language used in 1) comparison and contrast, and 2) categorization.
For words and phrases of comparison (e.g., like; as; similarly; etc.) and contrast (e.g., while; whereas; although; etc.), it helps to know the vocabulary plus the grammatical implications of them (e.g., subordinating conjunctions creating dependent clauses; prepositions creating prepositional phrases; etc.)
For categorization, it’s a little trickier. You need to have the word knowledge in English to be able identify possible categories, or generate phrases that capture the category. And it needs to be done accurately, because the category or categories defined or described become the precedent or rule used in the future. As a result, wide vocabulary knowledge paired with associated vocabulary plus control over the language (when creating a string of multiple words to create an appropriate phrase) are crucial legal English skills needed for effective writing and communicating.
And the way I suggest teaching and practicing this kind of language is by using SAT analogy questions. Remember those? Here’s an example.
arrival : departure :: _____ : death
a) life
b) person
c) birth
e) train
They’re no longer part of the SAT. But they are part of my teaching toolbox. Here’s why:
1. Comprehensible Input: They’re the most reduced and accessible source material for working on analogy and the language of analogy. No need to read and digest multiple cases just to be able to practice the concepts and language that you’ll use when discussing and analyzing cases.
2. Language Production: If you try to describe and explain the answers and the reasons for why one answer is better than another, you necessarily have to use the language of analogy, i.e., vocabulary of comparing/contrasting and vocabulary of categorization. And if your students don’t have a strong enough grasp of the needed vocabulary and grammar, a great way to help them acquire it is to write out sentences and explanations for each one (or have your teaching assistants or other native English speaking law students write them) and then task your students with identifying the vocabulary of comparison/contrast and the words and phrases of categorization. And then after that, try to produce explanations on their own.
3. Engagement: These are really just fun little word puzzles. Plus, they lead to great discussion and debate. Students are motivated to engage with them.
4. Accessibility: You can find plenty of SAT analogy materials for free with a simple online search. Especially since they aren’t really used anymore.
If anyone–teachers or students–does decide to try and use these materials or this approach, I’d love to hear how it goes and what you think. Also, I’m happy to chat and discuss if you’re thinking of using them. Just email me at sh1643@georgetown.edu.
BONUS: What’s an analogy for analogy?
I posed this question in my presentation. None of the students had an immediate answer. But I shared with them what ChatGPT said in response to this question:
An analogy for analogy could be that it is like a bridge that connects two different worlds. Just as a bridge spans a physical distance between two points, an analogy bridges a mental gap between two concepts or ideas that may seem distant or unrelated. Both serve to bring things together and make connections that might not have been possible otherwise.
Not bad, ChatGPT.
