TOLES - The World's Leading English Exam for Lawyers, Law Students and Legal Translators
Preparing Students for the TOLES Advanced Exam
TOLES Advanced is a unique legal English exam in that it is a true and accurate reflection of the skills that a lawyer needs to work effectively. TOLES is led by law firms. This means that its content reflects the needs of law firms over and above the usual “contrived” exercises of advanced language examinations. This naturally gives rise to 2 vital questions for teachers preparing students for this important addition to any legal CV:
- What skills does each section test?
- How should my students answer the questions so as to be awarded maximum points?
Questions 1 – 10
It is important to reassure your students that this section is a test of collocation and not a test of knowledge of UK or US law. The subject heading may be “The European Commission” but it doesn’t matter if students don’t know anything about that subject. They need to demonstrate, for example, that it is more natural to say that a contract is breached (and not disrespected) and that sanctions are imposed (and not put) upon a country that does not obey international or community law.
If a student circles two answers as correct they will not be awarded any marks. If a student changes his or her mind about the correct answer they should mark it clearly with an X, covering the answer completely. (Please see the attached document “TOLES Advanced examination – answers and corrections”)
There are 30 points available in this section and your student will score either 3 or 0 for each question.
Questions 11 – 20
This section of the exam is more challenging for students than Q 1 – 10 because it is a test of both knowledge of collocation and specific legal vocabulary related to the topic. If the topic is for example, remedies for breach of contract and the student doesn’t know words such as damages, injunction and specific performance, they won’t be able to answer a number of the questions in this section. However, it is important to tell them that some of the questions deal with collocation so it is worth reading through the text and answering the questions even if they do not initially feel confident with the topic.
Students tend to lose marks in this section because they offer two or three alternatives to the correct answer, often including a completely inappropriate word in the list. It is important to warn students that they should choose one word and not offer the marker a list.
There are 30 points available in this section and your student will score 3 for an ideal answer to each question. However, if the marker sees that the candidate has a good idea of the appropriate word but has given the wrong tense of the verb, for example, it is at the marker’s discretion to award 2 or 1 point(s).
Questions 21 – 22
The redrafting section is at the heart of the exam and it can be rather daunting for students and teachers alike. However, there is a way to “tame” this section.
It is important for students to know that there has been a movement in the UK and the European Union away from the old fashioned “legalese” style of writing contracts towards the style that the plain English campaign have been recommending for many years. English law students are now encouraged to write in a far clearer way and are taught in drafting skills sessions to eliminate all of the “Dickensian” language habits that the public find so incomprehensible.
TOLES Advanced seeks to support ambitious students who wish to work in a global environment by making them aware of this trend. It is without doubt developing in the USA too, and style guidance books by the editor of Black’s dictionary, Bryan Garner are recommended reading for any TOLES centre. However, it is realistic to assume that your students will have to deal with the old fashioned “hereunder and forthwith” style in their lifetime as working lawyers and they should be equipped with appropriate skills to understand it.
There is a list of books dealing with modern drafting at the end of this section and most of them will give you the foundations to deal with complex contract clauses.
This section then tests two things:
1. Ability to read and understand a very complex contract clause
2. Ability to draft the same information in a more modern style.
Each question in this section carries 16 points.
- 8 of those points are awarded for a demonstration that the candidate has read and understood the original.
- 8 of those points are awarded for a good, plain English alternative to the original.
What is the target redrafting language? Your students should be asked to write for a colleague from their own country, who speaks excellent general English, but is not a legal professional. If that person can understand it then it is a good redrafting.
It is not necessary in this section to give a simplified explanation of established terminology. For example, a phrase in a contract clause such as “if the renter shall be the subject of a receiving order” certainly needs to be simplified. However, the term “receiving order” is accepted legal terminology and can be repeated in the redrafting. It is the general English that needs to be redrafted.
Recommended reading:
Legal writing in Plain English
by Bryan A Garner (University of Chicago press)
ISBN 0-226-28418-2
Modern Legal Drafting
by P Butt & R Castle
ISBN 0521001862
Legal Writing & Drafting
by P Rylance
ISBN 1854311697
Questions 23 – 32
This section of the exam tests a student’s knowledge of specific legal terminology. There are 3 points available for a correct answer. In order to score 3 points the answer must be the correct form of the word required. For example, if the answer is “insolvent” and the student writes “insolvency” they will score 1 point. Spelling is not vital in this section. The examiner is only looking for evidence that a student can provide the required word.
A major problem in this section is that students don’t read the sentence carefully enough and give a word that is not grammatically correct. For example:
There are two types of lawyer in England, solicitors and barrister.
We cannot award this student 3 points as the sentence is not completely accurate.
Another common problem is that students don’t check that the word they have provided fits with the prepositions in the sentence. For example:
The land is being sold off because the building company has gone into insolvency
We cannot award this student any points at all because the sentence is completely inaccurate.
The advice in this section is read the sentence carefully and think again before you write.
Questions 33 – 42
This section tests a student’s knowledge of preposition. For many students, this is the most frustrating part of the exam. The student will either score 3 points for the correct preposition or 0 for an inaccurate answer. Again, please ask students not to give a list of alternatives. Even if the correct answer is somewhere in the list the student will not be awarded any points.
It is important to stress again and again to students that prepositions change in translation. Many students have deeply ingrained errors that need to be ironed out.
To reassure students it is helpful to tell them that the same prepositions tend to be tested regularly and it is extremely helpful to complete the TOLES Advanced book of 5 practice papers and memorise how the prepositions work. This is not true simply of the prepositions exercises. All exercises in TOLES encourage accurate use of prepositions and there is plenty of opportunity to study and memorise prepositions in context.
Question 43
This is the letter writing section of the exam. There is a detailed guide for teachers explaining how points are allocated (see attachment “TOLES Advanced – letter examples”)
This section tends to be the weakest area of the exam for many students. The main faults to work on are as following:
- Sentence structure. Many students produce inaccurate and very unnatural sentences. The focus must be on the importance of accuracy when working at this level. Many mistakes are from carelessness or ingrained problems that the students do not recognise as important. The general idea that accuracy is not important is fatal to this section of the exam.
- Style. Students often make the mistake of thinking that formal means old-fashioned. They try to make the original letter presented to them in the exam more formal by writing long, complex sentences or by adding words such as “undermentioned” or “forthwith”. Aim instead for short sentences that are professional and written in good, plain English.
- Care. Students often give the examiner a bad impression by misspelling words or using prepositions wrongly when they have been given the accurate version in the original.
- Give your letter a subject. Many students lose a few points immediately by not doing so. Place it either above “Dear Sir” or between “Dear Sir” and the first paragraph.
Remember, we already know that students can produce a letter of the quality offered in the exam. We are asking them to develop their skills one stage further by demonstrating a sensitivity to both register and modern style.
Questions 44 – 53
This is the word transformation part of the exam. It is there to encourage students to concentrate on accuracy. Many students, in free writing exercises will use a noun in a sentence when an adjective is required. Very often, intermediate students will invent new words. This section of the exam aims to focus attention on accuracy. Do I need a noun? And if so, does an auditor carry out an audit or an audition? Is a person who makes an allegation an allegator? These are typical errors in free writing exercises that need to be addressed as a matter of priority.
If the word needs to be plural to make the text grammatically correct and the student offers the singular they will lose one point.
Questions 54 – 59
This section is intended to support students who have to have meetings, negotiations or telephone conversations with native speakers. The idioms section is included in the exam because consultations with hundreds of lawyers tell us that it is necessary.
In the real world of work, if a native English speaking lawyer or client registers that your student speaks English they rarely realise that there is a need to grade their language. Whilst we do not recommend that your students use modern business idiom there is a definite need for him or her to understand idiom and to realise that natives often prefer idiom (and a high level use of phrasal verbs) to the language that is taught in traditional advanced examinations.
Students are awarded points between 0-3 according to how accurate an explanation they give for each idiom.
Question 60
This is the email section of the exam. The task never varies; it is always an email from a friend who requires help in understanding a section of a contract. The reason it is always from a friend and not from another lawyer or a client is to give students the opportunity to relax on style a little bit and focus on explaining a complex legal document.
The section carries 80 points. They are allocated as follows:
- Short, friendly, personal reply to the email in the box (5)
- Explanation of underlined terms (45) 3 points x 15 words
- Plain English ‘translation’ of all of the contract that is not underlined (30)
It is important that students try to use the technique demonstrated in the answer key in the Practice papers book. Underlined words are explained in an informal manner and the underlined word is placed next to the explanation in brackets. This allows the marker to find the explanation easily and award the full number of points earned by an answer. Students will be awarded 0-3 points for each underlined word depending on the quality of their answer.
Students often ask if they need to explain a line or a clause in the contract because it contains no underlined words. The answer is yes. The underlined words only account for 45 points and there are a further 30 available for everything else.
Students are often concerned about how far they need to go in explaining words and phrases. What is the target level? The answer is much the same as in the redrafting task. Explain this contract to a friend of your own nationality who speaks excellent general English but is not a lawyer. Personalise it as much as possible.
For example : “The client shall cover all expenses listed in schedule 3 to this contract”
None of the words are underlined. It is reasonable to assume that a person who speaks English fluently will understand “client” without explanation but may need help with “cover” in this context and will certainly need help with “schedule”.
In general students do very well in this section. However, some lose points in explaining the underlined words because of a tendency to explain the entire sentence but not a specific word as required.
For example: “The Employee shall exercise all professional skill and diligence.
If a student answers “You must work as well as you possibly can” they have demonstrated that they understand the sentence but not the underlined word. It is not possible to award this student the 3 points available for the underlined word. However, he or she will be awarded general points for understanding.