I’ve always been in awe of those people who knew in high school what vocational pathway they wanted to take. Having said that, I’m also quite pleased that a lot of universities here in Australia now encourage students to do broad degrees like Arts or Science at the Bachelor’s level before pursuing vocational degrees such as Medicine or Teaching at the Master’s level. Today’s interviewee, Ailsa Webb, has some good insights on the advantage of taking experience with linguistics into a postgraduate law degree. You can follow Ailsa’s final semester at university, and subsequent adventures on twitter (@WebbAilsa). For more on forensic linguistics, check out the En Clair podcast.
What did you study at university?
I studied a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Linguistics, with a minor in German. I also studied Latin and a little bit of Japanese.
What is your job?
I’m a full-time law student and am currently undertaking elective units to finish my degree. Last year I worked with my university’s Academic English support program. I also privately tutor VCE English Language (which is basically Linguistics 101 for Senior High School students in Victoria, Australia).
How does your linguistics training help you in your job?
My linguistics training is extraordinarily helpful in my degree, as the bulk of law is reading, writing and analysing language. I’m currently undertaking an elective that looks specifically at language issues in the law – it focuses on the linguistics features of legalese, how language is used in interviews and courtroom exchanges, and how this can cause misunderstanding, add to cognitive load, and exclude non-legal professionals and those from CALD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) backgrounds. I’m very interested to pursue future research in the field of forensic linguistics, and the combination of my study backgrounds means I am very well placed to look at these issues.
Do you have any advice you wish someone had given to you about linguistics/careers/university?
I chose Linguistics for my undergraduate simply because I loved it and was interested in it, and never had a ‘dream pathway into academia’ in mind. I’ve always considered myself interdisciplinary, and I wish students were more explicitly encouraged to combine different fields throughout their studies in recognition that this benefits those in both fields. The law in particular suffers from the silo effect to a fairly extreme degree, and non-legal professionals are not regarded as credible or valuable contributors to the field, which in my opinion is a mistake. I’d advise students to pursue their other interests – whether that’s science, information technology, law, education, sociology, whatever! – in the understanding that both areas will benefit from the transferable skills and knowledge.
