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Zackback
Joined: 05 Nov 2010
Location: Kyungbuk
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BoholDiver
Joined: 03 Oct 2009
Location: Canada
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 Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:30 am Post subject: |
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If Asia meant China, Japan, and Korea, then Korea would be 3rd.
Better than Hong Kong? Malaysia? Singapore? Thailand? Philippines? Doubtful. |
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Zackback
Joined: 05 Nov 2010
Location: Kyungbuk
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 5:42 am Post subject: |
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From the article:
Malaysia and Hong Kong, however, use English as one of their official languages.
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I know the Philippines does as well so I reckon none of them were included. |
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Caffeinated
Joined: 11 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 6:13 am Post subject: |
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The article mentions SK as 3rd after Malaysia and Hong Kong (with the caveat that both those countries use English as one of their official languages), but ahead of Japan and Taiwan.
One of the comments:
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| Philippines is not included in the survey. If they included Philippines in their sample, it would have totally mess up their conclusion since they basically argued that English proficiency is directly proportional to the wealth of a nation. Higher per capita means better English proficiency for a country. Hence Education First might have opted not to include Philippines in the survey considering it would have been a major anomaly. Philippines would have ranked highest among Asian countries despite having the lowest per capita and a "relatively weak public school system. |
The article says:
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| In Asia�s case, the gap between nations in English proficiency was largely affected by the level of political stability and economic power of the country as well as the educational zeal of the people. |
Consider the source?
| Quote: |
| By Yun Suh-young in Seoul/The Korea Herald |
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Ruthdes
Joined: 16 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 6:15 am Post subject: |
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Wow crazy. I even checked the date to see if it was an April Fool's joke. Here is the link for the report. To get the English one, you may have to change the country at the bottom. It kept switching it to the Korean page for me.
http://www.ef.com/epi/
I haven't read the report yet, but the Yahoo News article said that Korea was 3rd behind Malaysia and Hong Kong (with very small differences between the points scored). No word of the Philippines or India. I was interested to note that the article, which was written by a Korean (Yun Suh Young from the Korea Herald), seemed to be devoid of apostrophes.
I'll see if I have time to read the report in the next day or so. I'm interested to see if the data is as dodgy as it sounds, or whether it's just the Korea Herald's data mining that is dodgy. |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 6:16 am Post subject: |
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| No effing way. |
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Ruthdes
Joined: 16 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 6:26 am Post subject: |
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Heh, Caffeinated, you just beat me to it.
I just did a quick speed read of this report, and it seems like the only reason this is even news is that it says something positive about Korea, which anyone who has walked around Korea (even in Seoul) knows is bs.
At the start of the report it stated that it had been compiled using data from a free online test. Hmmm... Because you'll obviously do a free online English test if you can't speak English... The report seems to be big on sweeping statements about the state of English learning and education, and short on reasonable conclusions.
As I said, this was an initial speed read of the report, but it looks much more like fluff with glossy pictures, designed to sell Education First's English education programs, rather than anything solid.
Korea third in Asia? What a joke. |
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West Coast Tatterdemalion
Joined: 31 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:04 am Post subject: |
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Yeah, that is an article simply trying to spin Korea in a positive light. If you are excluding places like the Phillipines and Hong Kong in your rating system, then you lose any kind of credibility in making such a claim. But anything to spin Korea as a nation of English language ability.  |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:18 am Post subject: |
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| It's obviously BS if Singapore isn't on it. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:37 am Post subject: |
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Korea's English ability is definitely better than China's or Japan's. I wouldn't expect them to best the Phillipines or Singapore, which are properly what my Chinese friends would call "colonial countries."
Korea's overall English ability is remarkably good considering its circumstances, its native language, everything.
Suck it, haters. |
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nero
Joined: 11 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:52 am Post subject: |
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| Kuros wrote: |
Korea's English ability is definitely better than China's or Japan's. I wouldn't expect them to best the Phillipines or Singapore, which are properly what my Chinese friends would call "colonial countries."
Korea's overall English ability is remarkably good considering its circumstances, its native language, everything.
Suck it, haters. |
Where have you taught?
I have taught in Japan, South Korea, Thailand and China. South Korea would come last. |
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sadguy
Joined: 13 Feb 2011
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:54 am Post subject: |
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| nero wrote: |
| Kuros wrote: |
Korea's English ability is definitely better than China's or Japan's. I wouldn't expect them to best the Phillipines or Singapore, which are properly what my Chinese friends would call "colonial countries."
Korea's overall English ability is remarkably good considering its circumstances, its native language, everything.
Suck it, haters. |
Where have you taught?
I have taught in Japan, South Korea, Thailand and China. South Korea would come last. |
china is before korea? are u kidding? i taught there. NO ONE speaks english there. there's hardly any english signs or words around.
if you're ever lost in korea, you can always write the question down and most people can read and understand it. they might not be able to comprehend when you're talking. but in china, if you're lost and you don't speak chinese, you're screwed. unless you live in shanghai or some other large modern city. |
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AmericanBornKorean
Joined: 08 Oct 2010
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 9:58 am Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
| No effing way. |
Echoing this sentiment. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:05 am Post subject: |
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| nero wrote: |
| Kuros wrote: |
Korea's English ability is definitely better than China's or Japan's. I wouldn't expect them to best the Phillipines or Singapore, which are properly what my Chinese friends would call "colonial countries."
Korea's overall English ability is remarkably good considering its circumstances, its native language, everything.
Suck it, haters. |
Where have you taught?
I have taught in Japan, South Korea, Thailand and China. South Korea would come last. |
I've also taught in China.
The key here is not to measure your students, but to measure how reflective your students are of the entire population. More Koreans study English than other Asians, and more business Koreans can speak English better than in other Asians countries.
BTW, Japanese are just terrible at English. |
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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 3:44 pm Post subject: |
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It depends how English proficiency is measured. A lot of Koreans have phenomenal TOEIC scores and a very good understanding of grammar, yet their speaking skills are woefully lacking.
I read somewhere that Korea spends more on English education than any other country in the world, yet they aren't even in the top 100 in terms of speaking competence. I'll try to find that and post it here. |
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