English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) - 2013

Sujets

• Proficiency
• English
• EPI
• EF
• Index

Informations

• Publié par: Nan0
• Publié le: 06 novembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 164
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

EF EPI
EF English Profciency Index
www.ef.com/epi2 EF English Profciency IndexTABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary 5
EF English Profciency Index World Map 6ofciency Index Trends Map 8
Introduction to the EF EPI Third Edition 11
Country Spotlights
China 12
Hong Kong14
Japan16
South Korea18
Russia20
France22
Germany24
Italy 26
Spain28
Brazil30
Mexico32
EF EPI Correlations 34
English and Economic Development 36
Doing Business in English 38
English and Quality of Life 39
Conclusions 41
About the Index42
Appendix: EF EPI Country Scores 44
Selected References46
Reviews of the EF EPI 47
3www.ef.com/epi4 EF English Profciency IndexEXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Year by year, economies are more globalized, work more delocalized, and
information more decentralized. A shared language is a necessary tool when
communication is no longer tied to geography. English is that tool, now
more than ever.
Educational institutions, driven by the demands of • While the rest of Europe is already profcient in The EF EPI third
society, are increasingly embracing English language English or steadily working towards that goal, edition ranks 60
learning. Many school systems now require English France is on an entirely different trajectory. The countries and
study starting in primary school, much as they do seven countries with the strongest English are territories by adult
math or science. University professors are delivering all small European nations, whose size compels English profciency.
lectures in English to prepare their students better them to adopt an international outlook.
for life after graduation. Companies both large and • The Middle East and North Africa are the
small, international and domestic, are mandating weakest regions in English. These oil-rich
English as their corporate language. And individuals, nations have staked their futures on developing
whether job seekers or ambitious parents, are knowledge economies before their oil production
pouring money into private English training. peaks. An exception to the region’s lackluster
Yet with all this motivation and investment in English, performance is the United Arab Emirates,
many countries are failing to measure the results of which has improved signifcantly.
their efforts. Are there concrete returns in the form of • Turkey has improved the most of any nation over
economic growth and increased competitiveness? the six-year period. This is a positive trend, coming
It is in this context that we originally introduced the as the country continues to develop according to a
EF English Profciency Index (EF EPI), to provide a number of economic factors.
worldwide benchmark in adult English profciency
• Poland and Hungary have made tremendous over time.
progress in learning English. These new English
We have tested the English skills of nearly fve million skills are an important step towards building the
adults from all parts of the world over a period of
knowledge economies they aspire to have.
six years (2007-2012). This year, our fndings on the
• Poor English remains one of the key competitive changes in worldwide English profciency over this
weaknesses of Latin America. More than half of period are presented in the third edition of the EF EPI,
the countries in the region are in the lowest EF in addition to the latest national rankings. Highlights of
EPI profciency band. Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and those fndings include:
Chile have improved, but they still lack the large Some Asian countries, in particular Indonesia •
base of competent English speakers necessary and Vietnam, have transformed their English
for a globalized workforce. Some countries in the profciency over the six-year period. China has
region, including Mexico and Guatemala, have also improved, although less dramatically. Japan
declining English profciency. and South Korea, despite enormous private
investment, have declined slightly.
• Across the board, English language skills are
improving in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia,
India, and China). This year, India and Russia have
moved ahead of China, and Brazil is closing in fast.

5www.ef.com/epiThird Edition
EF ENGLISH PROFICIENCY INDEX 2013
Very High Profciency High Profciency Moderate Profciency
Rank Country Score Rank Country Score Rank Country Score
1 Sweden 68.69 8 Poland 62.25 18 Slovakia 54.58
2 Norway 66.60 9 Hungary 60.41 19 Argentina 54.43
3 Netherlands 66.19 10 Slovenia 60.19 20 Czech Republic 54.40
4 Estonia 65.55 11 Malaysia 58.99 21 India* 54.38
5 Denmark 65.15 12 Singapore* 58.92 22 Hong Kong SAR* 53.54
6 Austria 62.66 13 Belgium 58.74 23 Spain 53.51
7 Finland 62.63 14 Germany 58.47 24 South Korea 53.46
15 Latvia 57.66 25 Indonesia 53.44
16 Switzerland 57.59 26 Japan 53.21
17 Portugal 57.52 27 Ukraine 53.09
28 Vietnam 52.27
*Countries where English is an offcial language
6 EF English Profciency IndexLow Profciency Very Low Profciency
Rank Country Score Rank Country Score Rank Country Score
44 Chile 48.20 59 Saudi Arabia 41.19 29 Uruguay 51.49
45 Morocco 47.71 60 Iraq 38.16 30 Sri Lanka 51.47
46 Colombia 47.07 31 Russia 51.08
47 Kuwait 46.97 32 Italy 50.97
48 Ecuador 46.90 33 Taiwan 50.95
49 Venezuela 46.44 34 China 50.77
50 Jordan 46.44 35 France 50.53
51 Qatar 45.97 36 United Arab Emirates 50.37
52 Guatemala 45.72 37 Costa Rica 50.23
53 El Salvador 45.29 38 Brazil 50.07
54 Libya 44.65 39 Peru 49.96
55 Thailand 44.44 40 Mexico 49.91
56 Panama 43.61 41 Turkey 49.52
57 Kazakhstan 43.47 42 Iran 49.30
58 Algeria 43.16 43 Egypt 48.89
7www.ef.com/epiThird Edition
EF ENGLISH PROFICIENCY INDEX TRENDS
To determine national trends in English Trending Up
profciency, we calculated the difference
between countries’ EF EPI frst edition and
Country Trend Country Trendthird edition scores. If a country did not have
a frst edition score, we used its second Turkey +11.86 Slovakia +3.94
edition score. The EF EPI frst edition used
Kazakhstan +11.73 Portugal +3.90test data from 2007 to 2009, the second
from 2009 to 2011, and the third from 2012. Hungary +9.61 Chile +3.57
Any change greater than two points—
Indonesia +8.66 Malaysia +3.45
positive or negative—indicates a
signifcant shift in English ability. Seven Vietnam +7.95 China +3.15
countries join the EF EPI for the frst
Poland +7.63 Czech Republic +3.09time this year, so they are excluded
from this map of trends. India +7.03 Switzerland +2.99
Russia +5.29 Egypt +2.97
Peru +5.25 Brazil +2.80
Thailand +5.03 Sweden +2.43
United Arab Emirates +4.84 Ecuador +2.36
Spain +4.50 Libya +2.12
Colombia +4.30 Taiwan +2.02
Austria +4.08 Venezuela +2.01
8 EF English Profciency IndexSlight Change Trending Down
Country Trend Country Trend Country Trend
Italy +1.92 South Korea -0.73 Guatemala -2.08
Germany +1.83 Hong Kong -0.90 El Salvador -2.36
Belgium +1.51 Japan -0.96 Norway -2.49
Finland +1.38 Denmark -1.43 France -2.63
Costa Rica +1.08 Mexico -1.57 Qatar -2.82
Argentina +0.94 Morocco -1.69 Iran -3.62
Singapore +0.27 Netherlands -1.74 Algeria -3.97
Panama -0.01 Uruguay -1.93 Saudi Arabia -6.86
Kuwait -0.04
9www.ef.com/epi10 EF English Profciency Index