bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Josh Ye

Hongkongers are No 3 in Asia in terms of English proficiency, behind students in Malaysia and the Philippines, according to a recent study.
Global education company IDP Education compared the IELTS scores from the 40 countries and territories with the most test takers. IELTS, of which IDP is a co-owner, is an English proficiency test for non-native speakers.
The study showed that Hong Kong test takers averaged 6.5 in IELTS in 2015, with strong performance in the listening and reading sections.
Students in Malaysia and the Philippines tied for the top spot in Asia, with an average score of 6.8. The score of Singaporeans was not accounted for as the city state had too few IELTS takers.
Pronunciation errors: do they point to a decline in Hong Kong’s English standards?
Patrick Wan, IDP’s IELTS manager for north Asia, said an average score of 6.5 was good news as most test takers were students, and most universities overseas required applicants to have a minimum IELTS score of 6.5.
“The number has been about the same for the past five years,” Wan said. “In 2011, the score was 6.4.”
Wan also said there had been no major change in any particular Asian country in terms of English proficiency.
Alan Chan, an English teacher at Kingsglory Education Centre, said that although he thought the ranking was fair, Hongkongers’ English ability was generally getting worse.
“If IELTS was popular 10 years ago, I believe the score [of Hong Kong test takers] would be better,” he said.
He added that the bar for the city’s fluency in English should be set higher given its brand as an international city and its history as a former British colony. He said he hoped Hong Kong could be within the top three in Asia, though it was currently behind Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Are English standards really falling in Hong Kong? Don’t believe all you read
According IELTS’s grading scale, participants with a score between 6 and 7 have an effective command of the language but occasionally use words that are inaccurate or contextually inappropriate.
The average scores for the mainland and Taiwan were 5.7 and 6.1 respectively. But Wan said Hong Kong still led them by a sizable margin in terms of the number of high-scorers. While more than 60 per cent of Hongkongers taking the test scored above 6.5, only 27 per cent of mainlanders and 38 per cent of Taiwanese fell within that bracket.
The manager said Hong Kong was falling behind Malaysia or Philippines mainly in the speaking and writing sections.
“This might stem from the fact that Hongkongers do not get to speak or write English in their daily life,” Wan said.
IDP did not reveal the number of IELTS takers in Asia or in any particular Asian country, although it announced that there were over 2.7 million participants worldwide. Germany had the highest average IELTS score of 7.3.
Emily Tse, country director of IDP, said the study did not represent the English language ability of all Hongkongers, given the data covered only IELTS test takers.
“This study is for reference only when it comes to assessing people’s English language ability in each country,” she said.
For instance, the average score of American test takers was only 5.8, but that did not mean most Americans have a bad command of English, she said.
Big spenders: Hong Kong parents second only to India for paying for their children to study abroad
IDP senior manager Calvin Chan said the popularity of IELTS had risen in tandem with people’s interest in studying abroad over the past half a decade.
“The UK and Australia are currently the top two destinations for people who want to pursue their higher education overseas,” Chan said. He added that the weakening of the British pound might continue to fuel the popularity of British universities among international students.
He also said that Hongkongers preferred universities in some Commonwealth countries over those in the United States because American universities often did not recognise Hong Kong students’ DSE scores.


Study ranks Hong Kong third in Asia for English, trailing Malaysia and Philippines

Hong Kong IELTS takers scored an average of 6.5 in 2015. Photo: May Tse

News

Hong Kong

Education

Scores based on results for IELTS, a test for non-native speakers, with Singapore excluded as it has too few participants


Study ranks Hong Kong third in Asia for English, trailing Malaysia and Philippines

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Scores based on results for IELTS, a test for non-native speakers, with Singapore excluded as it has too few participants

Scores based on results for IELTS, a test for non-native speakers, with Singapore excluded as it has too few participants