EF carries out projects in Kazakhstan to raise English language level
The EF English Proficiency Index 2019 published for the 9th time this year reveals Kazakhstan’s English language skills as very low. To address that Education First is implementing projects within Kazakhstan including through testing teachers and students of schools and higher education facilities, as well as elaborating recommendations to increase the national English level, Aliya Zhunussova, Country Manager at EF Education First in Nur-Sultan, said during a conference devoted to the Education First English Proficiency Index 2019, the Strategy2050.kz correspondent reports.
EF EPI 2019
The EF English Proficiency Index 2019 is the 9th edition of a ranking conducted by Education First, an international education company, to place countries by their level of English. The Netherlands tops this year’s rankings with a score of 70.27, slightly behind are Sweden (second) and Norway (third) with scores of 68.74 and 67.93, respectively.
The top-5 also includes Denmark (67.83) and Singapore (66.82).
Having scored 43.83, Kazakhstan is put 93rd out of 100 countries, which speaks to the country’s very low level of English. The figure has fallen by 1.36 compared to last year.
Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyzstan and Libya were worst-performing countries according to the EF English Proficiency Index 2019, scoring 41.60, 41.51 and 40.87 respectively.
The Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan with a score of 46.48 was the region with the highest English language skills across Kazakhstan. It followed by Almaty (45.41), Karaganda region (44.89), and so on.
The Index ranked Russia 48th, which is considered as low.
The EF English Proficiency Index 2019’s ranking by regions of the world revealed that Europe was the number one when it comes to English proficiency with a total score of all European countries of 56.71, Asia was second scoring 53.00, Latin America – third (50.34). Africa and the Middle East took the fourth and fifth spots, 50.28 and 44.60.
This year’s EF English Proficiency Index covered 2.3 million respondents from 100 countries and regions, 59% of whom were women. The average age of the respondents was 23.
EF projects in Kazakhstan
The Education First Standard English Test resulted in the ratings and reports coupled with the recommendations. EF SET certificates were handed over to over 2000 teachers of the English language and teachers of other subjects from all the districts of Almaty.
More than 23 thousand pupils underwent the test in Almaty, as well as students from a number of top Kazakh universities, including Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, the Kazakh Ablai Khan University of International Relations and World Languages, the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research, and you name it.
EF SPELLING BEE is a nationwide project focuses on developing English language skills, where the participants stand a chance to win a trip to the EF language school in Bristol, Great Britain.
Between June and August of 2017 and 2018, EF Education First, the Education Academy AlphaAcademy, the governor’s offices of the Medeu and Auezov Districts in Almaty, and the governor’s office of the Yessil District in Nur-Sultan, volunteers held the Language Park projects, engaging persons at the age from 6 to 60.
EF ROADSHOW 2019-2020 is a project destined to test willing ones throughout Kazakhstan to produce a full dynamic map depicting the English language level among Kazakh residents. The project expects to test from 5000 to 10000 individuals in each region in the period from November 2019 to February 2020.
For more, follow the link: https://www.ef.kz/asia/EF-EPI/.
According to Aliya Zhunussova, Country Manager at EF Education First in Nur-Sultan, the 5 countries placed on top of the EF English Proficiency Index 2019 share the common patterns.
“In these 5 countries [The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Singapore] English is largely taught through the public education systems, there is the continuous monitoring, the spoken English is in the spotlight, English is used on a daily basis, there are the English language requirements for teachers of higher education facilities and schools”, she said.
The Office of EF Education First in Nur-Sultan provides the recommendations for educational oversight bodies to ensure the leading positions in terms of English skills.
“Some recommendations say English should be the key skill throughout the education system; there is the need for a broad assessment of teachers and students to establish a starting point and track progress over time, as well as the need to re-train English language teachers in communication and teaching skills; quality English courses should be in place in the employment centers and unemployment reduction programmes; the number of hours in the training programmes and the qualification level for each stage of education should be taken into account”, Aliya Zhunussova said.
Among the recommendations for schools and universities, the major ones are the use of communication methods, the rolling-out of English speaking clubs, access of teachers to forums to exchange best practices and share information on better English teaching, as well as access to further education and internships.
While individuals learning English on their own can apply the following recommendations: regular English learning, that is several minutes each day; break down English learning into 20-30-minute sessions, instead of hours of leaning; watching TV programmes, listening to the radio, reading in English.
The EF English Proficiency Index is the largest one within the country.
Adlet Seilkhanov
