Law in Translation: Challenges and Opportunities in Teaching International Students in Business Law and Legal Environment Courses

• Author: Natalie P. Bryant,Laura R. Dove
• Published date: 01 July 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jlse.12048
• Date: 01 July 2016

Journal of Legal Studies Education

Volume 33, Issue 2, 263–291, Summer 2016

Law in Translation: Challenges

and Opportunities in Teaching

International Students in Business

Law and Legal Environment Courses

Laura R. Dove and Natalie P. Bryant∗

I. INTRODUCTION

As international student enrollment steadily increases in the United States,1

colleges and universities must become more acutely aware of the needs,

cultures, and learning styles of international students. A considerable and

increasing body of literature addresses international education and interna-

tional student experiences, while a limited number of articles identify issues

that arise in teaching international students either across all disciplines or

within a particular discipline. However, to the authors’ knowledge, only one

other article, written in 1991, explores teaching international students in the

specific context of a business law or legal environment of business course and

the unique challenges faced by both students and instructors in those

courses.2The article provided valuable insights and recommendations with

respect to the particular difficulties for international students in legal

environment courses and contributed a number of suggestions for improving

the experiences of international students in these classes. Given the increase

∗Department of Human Resource Management and Business Law, Troy University.

1See Press Release, IIE Releases Open Doors 2015 Data,INST.INT’LEDUC. (Nov. 16, 2015), http://

www.iie.org/Who-We-Are/News-and-Events/Press-Center/Press-Releases/2015/2015-11-16-

Open-Doors-Data (hereinafter Open Doors 2015); Nick Anderson, Chinese and Saudis Lead Foreign

Student Surge at U.S. Colleges and Universities,W

ASH.POST (Nov. 17, 2015), available at https:

//www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/chinese-and-saudis-lead-foreign-student-surge-at

-us-colleges-and-universities/2014/11/17/c45303b2-6e6f-11e4-8808-afaa1e3a33ef_story.html.

2See infra Section III.B.

C2016 The Authors

Journal of Legal Studies Education C2016 Academy of Legal Studies in Business

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264 Vol. 33 / The Journal of Legal Studies Education

in the number of international students in the nearly quarter century since

the article was published, new scholarly articles, and the advent of several new

technologies, it would be valuable to reassess this topic and provide further

guidance for instructors.

The purpose of this article is to outline the unique challenges faced by

international students enrolled in business law or legal environment of busi-

ness courses.3It is also imperative to recognize the numerous opportunities

that instructors can create in business law classrooms that will enhance the

experience of all students given the increasingly global nature of our society.4

Finally, this article provides recommendations to assist instructors in creating

an atmosphere that promotes understanding and success for international

students in business law classrooms.

In Part II, we describe the monumental demographic and other changes

within higher education in the last quarter century as they relate to interna-

tional students. Next, Part III.A briefly reviews the literature on issues relating

to teaching international students that are common across all disciplines in a

university setting. Part III.B describes the unique challenges that business law

and legal environment of business courses pose, including language barri-

ers, foundational knowledge, and discrepancy with U.S. students. Along with

a review of the 1991 article that addressed these topics, we expand on the

article’s findings and offer a few of our own observations. After identifying

these challenges, Part IV.A explores how the presence of international stu-

dents creates opportunities for learning with a focus on international and

global issues. In Part IV.B, we offer recommendations and suggest additional

3The intention of this article is to explore common challenges that both instructors and inter-

national students face in undergraduate law courses in colleges and schools of business in the

United States. Many business programs require a course in law as part of the core curriculum. See

Carol J. Miller & Susan J. Crain, Legal Environment v. Business Law Courses: A Distinction Without a

Difference?,28J.L

EGAL STUD.EDUC. 149, 149 (2011). These classes commonly include “business

law” or “legal environment of business” in the course title, and scholars have identified some

differences in course material and approach correlated to the title of the course. Id. at 149–50.

Throughout this article, we use the terms “business law” and “legal environment of business”

interchangeably given that our analysis and recommendations would not substantially differ

based on the type of course.

4AACSB has also recognized the increasingly global nature of our society by adopting changes

to their standards that reflect the “global marketplace.” Eligibility Procedures and Accreditation

Standards for Business Accreditation, AACSB INT’L2 (Jan. 31, 2015), http://www.aacsb.edu//

media/AACSB/Docs/Accreditation/Standards/2013-bus-standards-update-jan2015.ashx

[hereinafter AACSB Standards].