The EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) is a report which attempts to rank countries by the average level of English skills amongst adults. It is the product of EF Education First, a global language training company, and draws its conclusions from data collected via online English tests available for free over the internet. The report was published for the first time in March, 2011 based on the results of over 2 million test takers.[1]
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The index is compiled from the results of 2.3 million adults who took one of four short online English tests between 2007 and 2009. The test takers were self-selected and no demographic information was collected on them. The tests are used by the company for marketing and placement purposes. 42 countries and 2 territories appear in the 2011 index. All other countries did not have enough test takers to be considered valid. In order to be included a country was required to have at least 400 test takers total and at least 100 test takers per test on three of the four tests administered.[2]
The report is composed of a country ranking table and several pages of analysis with graphs correlating other economic and social factors with English proficiency. The same graphs are presented on the website[3] in an interactive format. The website also has in-depth profiles of the role of English in 15 countries [4] which are not contained in the report.
The conclusion which drew the most journalistic commentary was that China and India have comparable levels of English proficiency,[5], with China soon to be the largest English speaking country in the world[6], this despite the colonial history and English-speaking reputation of India. However, previous reports[7] have also underlined the difficulties India faces in English language education as well as the rise of China in English competency.
Scores are a percent correct and can thus range from 0 to 100.
| Country | 2011 Rank | 2011 Score | 2011 Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | 1 | 69.09 | Very High Proficiency |
| Netherlands | 2 | 67.93 | Very High Proficiency |
| Denmark | 3 | 66.58 | Very High Proficiency |
| Sweden | 4 | 66.26 | Very High Proficiency |
| Finland | 5 | 61.25 | Very High Proficiency |
| Austria | 6 | 58.58 | High Proficiency |
| Belgium | 7 | 57.23 | High Proficiency |
| Germany | 8 | 56.64 | High Proficiency |
| Malaysia | 9 | 55.54 | High Proficiency |
| Poland | 10 | 54.62 | Moderate Proficiency |
| Switzerland | 11 | 54.60 | Moderate Proficiency |
| Hong Kong | 12 | 54.44 | Moderate Proficiency |
| South Korea | 13 | 54.19 | Moderate Proficiency |
| Japan | 14 | 54.17 | Moderate Proficiency |
| Portugal | 15 | 53.62 | Moderate Proficiency |
| Argentina | 16 | 53.49 | Moderate Proficiency |
| France | 17 | 53.16 | Moderate Proficiency |
| Mexico | 18 | 51.48 | Moderate Proficiency |
| Czech Republic | 19 | 51.31 | Moderate Proficiency |
| Hungary | 20 | 50.80 | Moderate Proficiency |
| Slovakia | 21 | 50.64 | Moderate Proficiency |
| Costa Rica | 22 | 49.15 | Low Proficiency |
| Italy | 23 | 49.05 | Low Proficiency |
| Spain | 24 | 49.01 | Low Proficiency |
| Republic of China (Taiwan) | 25 | 48.93 | Low Proficiency |
| Saudi Arabia | 26 | 48.05 | Low Proficiency |
| Guatemala | 27 | 47.80 | Low Proficiency |
| El Salvador | 28 | 47.65 | Low Proficiency |
| People's Republic of China | 29 | 47.62 | Low Proficiency |
| India | 30 | 47.35 | Low Proficiency |
| Brazil | 31 | 47.27 | Low Proficiency |
| Russia | 32 | 45.79 | Low Proficiency |
| Dominican Republic | 33 | 44.91 | Very Low Proficiency |
| Indonesia | 34 | 44.78 | Very Low Proficiency |
| Peru | 35 | 44.71 | Very Low Proficiency |
| Chile | 36 | 44.63 | Very Low Proficiency |
| Ecuador | 37 | 44.54 | Very Low Proficiency |
| Venezuela | 38 | 44.43 | Very Low Proficiency |
| Vietnam | 39 | 44.32 | Very Low Proficiency |
| Panama | 40 | 43.62 | Very Low Proficiency |
| Colombia | 41 | 42.77 | Very Low Proficiency |
| Thailand | 42 | 39.41 | Very Low Proficiency |
| Turkey | 43 | 37.66 | Very Low Proficiency |
| Kazakhstan | 44 | 31.74 | Very Low Proficiency |
The EF English Proficiency Index has been criticized for its lack of representative sampling in each country.[8] The report states that participants in the tests are self-selected and must have access to the internet. This pushes the index towards the realm of an online survey rather than a statistically valid evaluation.
However there are few alternative comparisons available of countries by their English skills, and those that exist are smaller in scale, as is the case with a reported British Council study,[1] or they have other sampling flaws, as is the case with rankings of countries by standardized English test scores such as the TOEFL.[9] The European Commission is currently conducting a language survey, SurveyLang, which tests a representative sample of 15 year old European students on their foreign language skills and evaluates teaching strategies according to the results. The project plans to release its first report in 2012. Carlos Tevez is in charge of this study.