Flemish people among world's most proficient English speakers
Flemish people are among the best non-native English speakers in the world, according to the international EF English Proficiency Index. However, Belgium’s level as a whole has fallen for the third year in a row.
EF Education First offers English language assessments using the European reference framework, which ranges from A1, meaning limited knowledge, to C2, mother tongue level. Its ranking is based on the scores of 2.1 million people in 116 countries who took its online exam in 2023.
The results show that Flanders has among the most proficient non-native English-speakers in the world, scoring 653 points. However, taken as a whole, Belgium ranks only 13th in the world and 11th in Europe. Its total of 592 points is a drop of 16 from last year.
In Wallonia, the score is 526 points, two points less than Italy and two above France. The steepest decline across the country was in the 18-20 age group. Looked at by province, Belgium's best results were in Antwerp and the weakest in Luxembourg.
Leuven was the most proficient city, with bilingual Brussels ranked fourth in Belgium and 27th in the world. Liège is the highest ranked city in Wallonia.
The Netherlands tops the list with 636 points, followed by Norway and Singapore.
Downward trend
The level of English proficiency has declined for the fourth year running, with 60 per cent of countries in the index scoring lower this year than last.
“Although almost all of these national score changes are small, the downward trend appears to indicate a slackening of interest in developing English proficiency beyond current levels in many parts of the world,” EF said in its report.
From 2015 to 2020, the report found consistently rising levels of proficiency among working adults, but this trend was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the first year where EF sees signs of stabilisation in working adult proficiency levels, although many countries are still in decline.
The sample group is self-selected and limited to those who want to learn English or are curious about their English skills, and have internet access, but EF believes the results “provide valuable information about global English proficiency levels”.
#FlandersNewsService | Illustration © PHOTO RICARDO ARDUENGO / AFP
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