Fez - According to the latest report of the EF English Proficiency Index conducted by the Swiss-based Education First, Morocco ranks third country in the Arab world in terms of English proficiency, after the United Arab Emirates (36) and Egypt (43). At the global level, Morocco ranks 45th.
Fez – According to the latest report of the EF English Proficiency Index conducted by the Swiss-based Education First, Morocco ranks third country in the Arab world in terms of English proficiency, after the United Arab Emirates (36) and Egypt (43). At the global level, Morocco ranks 45th.
The study ranks the Middle East and North Africa as the weakest in English proficiency worldwide.
“The Middle East and North Africa are the weakest regions in English. These oil-rich nations have staked their futures on developing knowledge economies before their oil production peaks. An exception to the region’s lackluster performance is the United Arab Emirates, which has improved significantly,” said the study.
The new ranking is a regression for Morocco in the global ranking in English proficiency in comparison with last year’s Index. In 2012 Morocco ranked first in the Arab World in terms of English proficiency and 35th at the global level.
In spite of this drop, Morocco comes ahead of countries such as Kuwait, which ranked fourth in the Arab world (47 at the global level) followed by Jordan, Qatar, Libya, Algeria, Saudi Arabia. Iraq ranked the lowest in all the countries assessed in this research, which included 60 countries around the world.
This ranking might come as surprise to many, especially for Arabs in the Middle East who tend to think that Moroccans are less proficient in English than in French or Spanish.
But to many Moroccans, this is not a surprise, since it translates Moroccans’ tradition and will to always learn foreign languages in order to open up to the world and communicate with people from different backgrounds.
According to the British Council, in 2011 14% of Morocco’s population speaks English. The same report shows that the salary gap between a person who speaks English and a person who does not speak it is 12%.
The EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) was first launched in 2011. The survey is based on a “standardized measurement of adult English proficiency, comparable between countries and over time.”
It is the first index that compares the average English language proficiency of adults in countries where English is taught as a foreign language.
© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed
