Việt Nam ‘moderately’ proficient in English

An English class at a high school in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS

HCM CITY — Việt Nam ranks 58th out of 113 countries and territories in the EF English Proficiency Index in 2023 with 505 points out of 800.

It falls in the moderate proficiency band in the annual report announced by EF Education First Vietnam on Monday.

It places the surveyed countries and territories in five proficiency bands, from very high to very low.

Two years ago, Việt Nam scored 486 points, placing it in the low proficiency band.

Its 505 points places Việt Nam in seventh place in Asia, surpassing scores from India, Indonesia, China, and Japan.

In Southeast Asia, it ranks fourth behind Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia.

The Red River Delta has the highest English proficiency level in the country at 530 points while Hà Nội leads among cities with 538.

The 26-30 age group has the highest score of 511, and men top women 513 to 498.

Globally, the Netherlands maintains its top position followed by Singapore, Austria, Denmark, and Norway.

Proficiency in East Asia has declined four years running, accelerated this year by Japan and China.

Proficiency in the Middle East is stagnant. English is steadily improving in Latin America, but the region’s progress is hampered by declining proficiency in Mexico and a slower pace in Brazil.

Despite dominating the top of the index, Europe has plateaued this year.

English proficiency in Africa is largely stable except for Tunisia and Algeria, both improving quickly.

The index was calculated from the English test results of 2.2 million non-native English speakers in 113 countries and regions.

EF Education First is a leading international education organisation established in 1965 in Sweden to provide language training programmes combined with travel, cultural exchange, native experiences, and academic study in over 20 countries world-wide. — VNS