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The report also says that Iraq has fallen to last place.
The private education company Education First (EF) released the 2016 English Proficiency Index report.
The English Proficiency Index is based on the online test scores of 950,000 adults from 72 countries.
The results do not show the English ability of a country’s entire population. They are based on people who took an online test, the EF Standard English Test (EFSET), during 2015. You can take the test online for free.
The study is the sixth produced by EF. It is a yearly report that examines the English knowledge level of adults from 72 countries. It has found most areas in the world are continuing to improve their English language ability.
The report also says that English language remains an important part for a country’s economic power.
According to EF Director of Research Min Tran, one quality the highest-ranking countries share is a strong education system. However, he says that may not be enough.
“However, another very important factor is whether your country has an English speaking environment. If you go to Singapore today, you hear English on the streets. You hear Singaporean youngsters mixing Chinese, Malay, and English. Singaporeans are watching TV, watching films, listening to music in English...”
Tran also said the report has found a gender difference in English ability.
“You look at the genders, women are better than men. And we’ve seen that in nearly every country, every age group, every industry even when you look at business English. Women are just consistently outperforming men.”
Europe
Similar to the previous six years, Europe leads the rankings with its overall strength in English. Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland were the top five countries in Europe and in the world. These countries have been in the top five almost every year the report has been released. The only difference is that the Netherlands has moved from second place to first this year.
The report says there are several reasons these countries perform well. They have strong education systems, and primary and secondary schools in those countries require English language studies.
There are also many chances for people to use English in their day-to-day lives. The report says one very helpful quality is that English is used often in the media of these Northern European countries.
One important change took place in France. It moved from the “Low Proficiency” category last year to “Moderate Proficiency” for 2016. France placed 24 out of 28 European countries included in the report.
“English is a sensitive issue in France because the country is very proud of French and the position of French, the French language in the world. Universities do not teach in English, whereas other universities in Europe do have programs, even entirely in English. So we’ve seen France go down in the past five years, and this year was the first year that they came back up...”