Young People's English Language Skills Decreasing
2024-01-10
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1A recent index that measures English language ability around the world finds that young people's English language proficiency is decreasing.
2The 2023 EF English Proficiency Index (EPI) ranks countries and areas by English proficiency.
3The index is based on test results from 2.2 million people in 113 countries.
4The test is published by EF Education First, a private company based in Switzerland.
5VOA Learning English has a partnership with EF Education First to provide the online test to English learners.
6The EPI found that while young people's English skills are decreasing, working adults continue to increase their proficiency in English.
7There are different opinions about why the difference exists.
8Some people blame the COVID-19 pandemic, but others say artificial intelligence (or AI) tools could also be a reason.
9EF Education First released the 2023 index last November.
10EF EPI author Kate Bell warned that the 2023 index gives a false sense of global stability, meaning English speakers' proficiency stays about the same.
11But the truth is that gains in some countries are being offset by losses in others, Bell said in an EF Education First press release.
12Results were reported by age group for the first time in 2015.
13Since that time, the English proficiency of young people has decreased by 89 points.
14The EPI defines young people as being 18 to 20 years of age.
15However, the EPI notes that the 18 to 20 group was mostly stable with big decreases in a few large countries.
16India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Japan showed the largest proficiency decreases among youth.
17Kansuke Ikebe is a 21-year-old student from Shiga, Japan.
18He told VOA Learning English that the results are "really surprising.
19In my opinion, I've never felt it is decreasing.
20It is maybe because there are many youth who can speak English in my university."
21The EPI report noted that the decrease appears to have taken place when the COVID-19 pandemic interfered with normal education.
22The report said, "It is not yet clear if learning loss due to Covid will self-correct over time," but increased scores are expected in the future.
23The EPI said the problem is more difficult in countries where proficiency has been decreasing over time and "where education systems are teaching English less well than before."
24There has been a decrease in proficiency in Japan for nearly 10 years.
25Ikebe said he could believe the EPI results because of the way English is taught in Japan.
26"It makes nobody want to learn English more. It is not practical at all and really boring."
27However, working adults, people 26 years old and older, have been improving their English since 2015.
28The EPI said this might be because the value of a shared language is most recognized in the workplace.
29English creates possibilities for individuals and productivity for organizations.
30Results from the index also show a difference between men and women, what it calls a gender gap.
31The gender gap among those aged 18 to 25 is three times bigger than it is among working adults.
32Men's proficiency has improved by 14 points since 2015, while women's has decreased by 19 points.
33The lack of women in international jobs could be one reason for the gender gap the EPI said.
34But the gender gap among those aged 18 to 25 might demonstrate "a problem engendered by educational systems themselves or a societal problem schools are failing to address," the report said.
35An exception was the Middle East.
36The average score for women in that area has increased by 44 points, placing them ahead of men there.
37One notable trend in the 2023 EF EPI is that all the very high proficiency countries and many of the high proficiency countries had lower average scores than in 2022.
38This could be a possible effect of the pandemic on learning, travel and in-person communication.
39The Czech Republic is one country whose score dropped in 2023.
40Sabina Wyrob is with the Czech office of EF Education First.
41She told the Czech News Agency online teaching during the pandemic affected children's English skills.
42Schools and students are trying to catch up on what was missed, she told the news organization, but they are still not moving forward.
43The EPI report says that learning a language provides understanding of new ideas as well as better understanding of people.
44These skills, the report said, remain beyond the reach of AI, or artificial intelligence.
45But Ikebe said in Japan: "now AI and translation are being developed well. So, they don't need to learn English if they just do their homework. I think they don't use it as a tool to communicate, just a subject to pass the entrance exam."
46Jeannie Tse is a country manager at EF Hong Kong and Macau.
47She spoke to The Standard newspaper in Hong Kong.
48Tse said that while AI has changed the way young people work and learn, the importance of schools, teachers, and face-to-face instruction remains.
49"I do not believe that AI can completely replace language learning," Tse said, "but educators can harness AI to enhance language learning methods."
50I'm Gena Bennett.
1A recent index that measures English language ability around the world finds that young people's English language proficiency is decreasing. 2The 2023 EF English Proficiency Index (EPI) ranks countries and areas by English proficiency. The index is based on test results from 2.2 million people in 113 countries. The test is published by EF Education First, a private company based in Switzerland. VOA Learning English has a partnership with EF Education First to provide the online test to English learners. 3The EPI found that while young people's English skills are decreasing, working adults continue to increase their proficiency in English. There are different opinions about why the difference exists. Some people blame the COVID-19 pandemic, but others say artificial intelligence (or AI) tools could also be a reason. 4EF Education First released the 2023 index last November. EF EPI author Kate Bell warned that the 2023 index gives a false sense of global stability, meaning English speakers' proficiency stays about the same. But the truth is that gains in some countries are being offset by losses in others, Bell said in an EF Education First press release. 5Results by age group 6Results were reported by age group for the first time in 2015. Since that time, the English proficiency of young people has decreased by 89 points. The EPI defines young people as being 18 to 20 years of age. 7However, the EPI notes that the 18 to 20 group was mostly stable with big decreases in a few large countries. India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Japan showed the largest proficiency decreases among youth. 8Kansuke Ikebe is a 21-year-old student from Shiga, Japan. He told VOA Learning English that the results are "really surprising. In my opinion, I've never felt it is decreasing. It is maybe because there are many youth who can speak English in my university." 9The EPI report noted that the decrease appears to have taken place when the COVID-19 pandemic interfered with normal education. The report said, "It is not yet clear if learning loss due to Covid will self-correct over time," but increased scores are expected in the future. 10The EPI said the problem is more difficult in countries where proficiency has been decreasing over time and "where education systems are teaching English less well than before." 11There has been a decrease in proficiency in Japan for nearly 10 years. Ikebe said he could believe the EPI results because of the way English is taught in Japan. "It makes nobody want to learn English more. It is not practical at all and really boring." 12However, working adults, people 26 years old and older, have been improving their English since 2015. The EPI said this might be because the value of a shared language is most recognized in the workplace. English creates possibilities for individuals and productivity for organizations. 13Results by gender 14Results from the index also show a difference between men and women, what it calls a gender gap. The gender gap among those aged 18 to 25 is three times bigger than it is among working adults. Men's proficiency has improved by 14 points since 2015, while women's has decreased by 19 points. 15The lack of women in international jobs could be one reason for the gender gap the EPI said. But the gender gap among those aged 18 to 25 might demonstrate "a problem engendered by educational systems themselves or a societal problem schools are failing to address," the report said. 16An exception was the Middle East. The average score for women in that area has increased by 44 points, placing them ahead of men there. 17Lower average scores 18One notable trend in the 2023 EF EPI is that all the very high proficiency countries and many of the high proficiency countries had lower average scores than in 2022. This could be a possible effect of the pandemic on learning, travel and in-person communication. 19The Czech Republic is one country whose score dropped in 2023. 20Sabina Wyrob is with the Czech office of EF Education First. She told the Czech News Agency online teaching during the pandemic affected children's English skills. Schools and students are trying to catch up on what was missed, she told the news organization, but they are still not moving forward. 21The reach of AI 22The EPI report says that learning a language provides understanding of new ideas as well as better understanding of people. These skills, the report said, remain beyond the reach of AI, or artificial intelligence. 23But Ikebe said in Japan: "now AI and translation are being developed well. So, they don't need to learn English if they just do their homework. I think they don't use it as a tool to communicate, just a subject to pass the entrance exam." 24Jeannie Tse is a country manager at EF Hong Kong and Macau. She spoke to The Standard newspaper in Hong Kong. 25Tse said that while AI has changed the way young people work and learn, the importance of schools, teachers, and face-to-face instruction remains. "I do not believe that AI can completely replace language learning," Tse said, "but educators can harness AI to enhance language learning methods." 26I'm Gena Bennett. 27Gena Bennett wrote this story for VOA Learning English using information from EF Education First and other sources. 28How well does your country speak English? Do you agree with the report's findings? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, on Facebook or Instagram." 29________________________________________________ 30Words in This Story 31proficiency-n. ability to use or knowledge of a language 32stable-adj. remain the same 33practical -adj. related to what is real rather than what is imagined or is a possibility 34boring -adj. not interesting 35gender-n. the sex of a person; male or female 36gap-n. a space between two things 37engender-v. to cause 38translation -n. changing writing from one language to another 39harness-v. to control and make use of 40enhance -v. to improve or add to something