While there are plenty of news articles to be found online decrying the comparatively low test results US students have when compared to a variety of competitor nations (China, Japan, South Korea, India, most of northern Europe, Singapore, and so on…) the huge push to become Anglophones (i.e. English speakers) in these countries has gotten far less coverage.
I have seen that northern European school students, and to an increasing degree, the populace at large are mostly multilingual (most people are fluent in multiple languages), but there is a huge push going on in East Asia.
Since English is generally perceived to be the international language of business, there are millions of school students in China, South Korea, Japan, and the rest of the Pacific Rim industrializing countries who are intent upon becoming fluent in (American) English.
I have dealt with 7th grade students in South Korea who are better writers than many of the 12 grade students I have worked with in the USA. I say this not as a threat, or to throw more gasoline on the fire our education system is under, but to suggest that the schools these students go to are not better than the majority of American schools…
The only thing which I found to be different was…student motivation and intent to work…
Who speaks English?
http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2011/04/english?fsrc=scn%252Ftw%252Fte%252Fbl%252Fwhospeaksenglish
EVERYONE knows the stereotypes about foreigners speaking English: Scandinavians are shockingly fluent, while the Japanese lag despite years and billions of yen spent trying. Now a big new study confirms some of those stereotypes. But it holds some surprises as well.
EF Education First, an English-teaching company, compiled the biggest ever internationally comparable sample of English learners: some 2m people took identical tests online in 44 countries. The top five performers were Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. The bottom five countries were Panama, Colombia, Thailand, Turkey, and Kazakhstan. Among regions, Latin America fared worst. (No African country had enough takers to make the list’s threshold for the minimum number of participants.)
China speaks better English than India, says study
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j2QhVX-4GeNJHFgo3wA2nXWV-LKg?docId=CNG.1eba7b9c6a49dd1740b439ff354ea2e3.931
NEW DELHI — Emerging market giant China has pipped neighboring rival India in English language proficiency skills, despite the South Asian nation’s strong Anglophone tradition, according to a new study.
Both countries were given a "low-proficiency" score, with China standing 29th, one place ahead of India in a list of 44 countries rated according to an English proficiency index.
The study was carried out by EF Education (EF), the world’s largest privately held education company that specializes in language training and other education areas.
"Despite its British colonial legacy, extensive use of English for administrative purposes and vibrant English media, India is now no more proficient in English than rapidly improving China," the study said.
