Ranking places nation’s English proficiency lower as others advance

After reaching its highest ranking last year, the English proficiency of Chinese people dropped in 2018 compared with other non-English-speaking countries, said a report released on Tuesday in Beijing.

The 2018 ranking of the English proficiency of Chinese dropped 11 places from last year to 47th among 88 countries and regions, according to the 2018 English Proficiency Index of Swedish education company EF Education First, which has produced the report for eight consecutive years.

Christopher McCormick, senior vice-president for academic affairs at EF Education First, said, “We do not think the drop in rankings means China’s English proficiency decreased markedly in 2018, and the English proficiency scores in cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have improved this year.”

China scored 51.94 out of 100 points in 2018, 0.51 down from 2017, which is not a big difference, he said.

The main reason for China’s 11-place slide is that five countries the company added this year have relatively good English proficiency and six other countries have improved their results greatly, he said.

The report is based on the EF Standard English Test results of more than 1.3 million adults from 88 countries and regions. The test developed by the company consists of reading and listening. The median age of those taking the test was 27, and 60 percent were women.

Proficiency in English among residents of Shanghai has ranked first in China for five consecutive years, followed by Hong Kong and Beijing, the report said.

Adults from Sweden are the world’s best English speakers among people from non-English-speaking countries, followed by the Netherlands, it said.

According to McCormick, the English proficiency of people in China has improved steadily thanks to education reforms adopted by the government and the opening up of Chinese society.

However, proficiency in English varies greatly across the country. Shanghai and Beijing rank high because they are more engaged internationally, he said.

“The challenge is how we bring the rest of the country with them and what can we do nationally to lift everybody to the same kinds of opportunities for language learning. That’s a big policy, investment and innovation challenge.”

Liu Xin, host at China Global Television Network, said good English proficiency increases people’s chances of getting a good job in a multinational company or finding work abroad.

It’s also the language of international communication, the media and the internet, so learning English is important for socializing, entertainment and work, Liu said.

“English education in China should focus on communication and mastering grammar. Constant exposure to English in daily life and reading more English news, TV shows and movies are strongly recommended,” she said.