China surpasses India in English proficiency

It’s a matter of common belief in India that whatever endeavor China focuses on, it becomes a global leader in it, in duration of few years. So when Indians got to know some years ago, that Chinese have started learning English, Indians started saying that soon the land of dragon will be filled with English speaking Chinese.

A new study says that China proved Indians correct here too.

According to a study, collating data from 2.4 million adults globally who took free online English tests between 2007 and 2008, carried out by EF Education (EF), the world's largest privately held education company that specializes in language training and other education areas — Emerging market giant China has pipped neighbouring rival India in English language proficiency skills, despite latter’s strong anglophone tradition.

Although, the study gives both countries a "low-proficiency" score, China stood 29th, one place ahead of India (30th) in a list of 44 countries rated according to an English proficiency index.

The study considers China surpassing India in English proficiency an important development as despite --its British colonial legacy, extensive use of English for administrative purposes and vibrant English media, a large English-speaking population that has been one of the key factors behind the boom in outsourcing to India which has seen Western companies set up IT back-up or call centres in cities such as Bangalore and Hyderabad;-- India is now no more proficient in English than rapidly improving China.

This the study attributes to China pouring in far more resources into English-language teaching compared to India.

The study is quick to acknowledge that the results could not be "guaranteed" to be representative of any country as a whole. --------

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