Developing French for Specific Purposes Modules for Nigerian Legal Practitioners

Nigerian legal practitioners increasingly engage with francophone legal systems through ECOWAS Community Court proceedings, cross-border commercial arbitration, and international legal aid cooperation, creating a demand for French for specific purposes training tailored to legal communication contexts that has not been addressed by existing French language provision in Nigeria. This study develops and validates French for specific purposes modules for Nigerian legal practitioners, following a systematic needs analysis and expert validation process. The needs analysis phase employed structured questionnaires administered to 68 Nigerian lawyers and judges with experience of francophone legal engagement, supplemented by interviews with twelve legal French experts and review of ECOWAS Court of Justice procedural documents and French legal communication research. Module development proceeded through three iterative drafts with expert panel review at each stage. The final module set covers four communicative areas: ECOWAS institutional procedural French, commercial contract terminology, legal correspondence, and courtroom interpretation support communication. Validation through a Delphi process with twenty specialists achieved consensus on content relevance, task authenticity, and assessment design. A pilot of Module One, covering ECOWAS procedural French, was conducted with fifteen legal practitioners, generating learner feedback incorporated into final revision. The validated four-module French for specific purposes curriculum for Nigerian legal practitioners is delivered through the study in a complete and implementable format. The study recommends its adoption by the Nigerian Bar Association's continuing legal education programme. Keywords: French for specific purposes, legal French, Nigerian lawyers, ECOWAS, continuing legal education