k_hongkong
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/4/182964/Hong-Kong-climbs-one-spot-in-English-proficiency-index — 2021 EFEPI ranking of non-native English speakers.
Singapore topped average proficiency in Asia, while the Philippines and Malaysia ranked 2nd and 3rd. All three fall into the category of “high level” proficiency.
Hong Kong ranked 32nd globally and fourth in Asia this year. The average English proficiency of Hong Kong people was only “moderate” — on par with countries like Spain and Lebanon. Mainland China and Macau ranked 7th and 8th in Asia respectively.
As English language standards improved globally, Scandinavian countries no longer held the top spots in the global ranking. This year, the Netherlands topped English proficiency by a significant margin.
— quality of EFEPI
Q: is the index more oral or more reading? I would say speaking and writing are the most challenging, but listening/reading are needed more often. See ##English测: non-overlapp dimensions
A: The EF SET is an online English test of reading and listening skills. A standardized, objectively scored test. Probably no composition. Probably MCQ only.
A: Oral .. missed wholesale. Presumably adequate assessment of reading and listening.
Q: age group?
A: mostly young adults
Note 400 million people are native speakers [5 countries] and excluded from the survey.
There are comprehensive reports produced by by EFEPI.
— 2023 global ranking
Sgp ranked #2, below the Netherland. SouthAfrica ranked #9, Ph ranked #20. The only three non-European countries among top 20.
— 2021 global ranking (Note this blogpost is about Asia countries)
Sgp ranked #4 globally. SouthAfrica ranked #12, Ph ranked #17. The only three non-European countries among top 20.
In Asia, highest are SG, Ph, Malaysia, HK, Korea, India#48, China#49. Among these Asian countries, I only know that SG has a national policy to use English as the common working language (see section below).
In Latam, Argentina is ranked highest at #30, below many European and Asian countries.
Hongkong .. “Usage of English on a daily basis in Hong Kong has decreased… When facing the mainland market, we tend to use Putonghua. It’s impossible for medium and small-sized enterprises to have the resources for English training.
— HK .. English standard falling against other Asia cities. How can it beat Shanghai, Taipei or KL?
With the exodus of non-Chinese expats, more people tend to use Chinse more.
In the 90s/2000s, some Singapore writer hypothesized that the largest concentration of effectively-bilingual popoulation might be found in Hongkong. At that time, I think HK Chinese standard beat Sgp, but not in English.
— English as shared work`language (in SGP) .. a premise of the EFEPI.
English is needed as a common working language in Singapore. (Not so much in HK, Ph, Korea, Japan, India,,) There’s a requirement to balance two needs
- The need for the immigrant’s original mother tongue. Governments recognize immigrants’ right to speak their original language when living in Singapore. Original language is well-recognized as more effective esp. as the immigrant copes with numerous challenges in a new city. Singapore is not the easiest new country for an immigrant.
- The requirement for basic English skill at the workplace + schools. The pressure to learn English may push some of these immigrants to reduce native language usage, as a strategy to speed up English learning.
Therefore, at the minimum, SG immigration authority (and job/school interviewers) require each immigrant to be “effective” in listening and reading, and also expressing themselves clearly (using simple words) in the common language.
In reality, many China immigrants (my younger self) struggle and experience some level of disadvantage/handicap in English-dominant places of Singapore. Alina, Frank etc worked in only one Singapore company for years before looking for job in Singapore. To my surprise but quite logically, they struggle to impress the employers ..
- In job interviews, you need to impress strangers within
minutes. Interviewers have no time to get to know your background. - I guess some interviewers were remote, perhpas over the phone. In those contexts listening and oral skills (without body language assistance) are critical, and reading/writing skills dont’ matter at all. In contrast, at work reading/writing is at least 50% important
- Singapore tech job interviewers are frequently non-native speakers [Indian, Singaporean, Ph,,,] but some of my China peers are unprepared for an in-depth conversation with these nationals.
- imperfect grammar is commonplace and harmless in most tech job interviews. China education emphasizes grammer, reading, writing,,,