VOA教育报道2024--Young People’s English Language Skills Decreasing

Young People’s English Language Skills Decreasing

　　A recent index that measures English language ability around the world finds that young people's English language proficiency¹ is decreasing.

　　The 2023 EF English Proficiency Index (EPI) ranks countries and areas by English proficiency. The index is based on test results from 2.2 million people in 113 countries. The test is published by EF Education First, a private company based in Switzerland. VOA Learning English has a partnership² with EF Education First to provide the online test to English learners.

　　The EPI found that while young people's English skills are decreasing, working adults continue to increase their proficiency in English. There are different opinions about why the difference exists. Some people blame the COVID-19 pandemic, but others say artificial intelligence (or AI) tools could also be a reason.

　　EF Education First released the 2023 index last November. EF EPI author Kate Bell warned that the 2023 index gives a false sense of global stability, meaning English speakers' proficiency stays about the same. But the truth is that gains in some countries are being offset³ by losses in others, Bell said in an EF Education First press release.

　　Results by age group

　　Results were reported by age group for the first time in 2015. Since that time, the English proficiency of young people has decreased by 89 points. The EPI defines young people as being 18 to 20 years of age.

　　However, the EPI notes that the 18 to 20 group was mostly stable with big decreases in a few large countries. India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Japan showed the largest proficiency decreases among youth.

　　Kansuke Ikebe is a 21-year-old student from Shiga, Japan. He told VOA Learning English that the results are "really surprising. In my opinion, I've never felt it is decreasing. It is maybe because there are many youth who can speak English in my university."

　　The EPI report noted⁴ that the decrease appears to have taken place when the COVID-19 pandemic interfered⁵ with normal education. The report said, "It is not yet clear if learning loss due to Covid will self-correct over time," but increased scores are expected in the future.

　　The EPI said the problem is more difficult in countries where proficiency has been decreasing over time and "where education systems are teaching English less well than before."

　　There has been a decrease in proficiency in Japan for nearly 10 years. Ikebe said he could believe the EPI results because of the way English is taught in Japan. "It makes nobody want to learn English more. It is not practical at all and really boring."

　　However, working adults, people 26 years old and older, have been improving their English since 2015. The EPI said this might be because the value of a shared language is most recognized in the workplace. English creates possibilities for individuals and productivity for organizations.

　　Results by gender⁶

　　Results from the index also show a difference between men and women, what it calls a gender gap. The gender gap among those aged⁷ 18 to 25 is three times bigger than it is among working adults. Men's proficiency has improved by 14 points since 2015, while women's has decreased by 19 points.

　　The lack of women in international jobs could be one reason for the gender gap the EPI said. But the gender gap among those aged 18 to 25 might demonstrate "a problem engendered⁸ by educational systems themselves or a societal problem schools are failing to address," the report said.

　　An exception was the Middle East. The average score for women in that area has increased by 44 points, placing them ahead of men there.

　　Lower average scores

　　One notable trend in the 2023 EF EPI is that all the very high proficiency countries and many of the high proficiency countries had lower average scores than in 2022. This could be a possible effect of the pandemic on learning, travel and in-person communication.

　　The Czech Republic is one country whose score dropped in 2023.

　　Sabina Wyrob is with the Czech office of EF Education First. She told the Czech News Agency online teaching during the pandemic affected⁹ children's English skills. Schools and students are trying to catch up on what was missed, she told the news organization, but they are still not moving forward.

　　The reach of AI

　　The EPI report says that learning a language provides understanding of new ideas as well as better understanding of people. These skills, the report said, remain beyond the reach of AI, or artificial intelligence.

　　But Ikebe said in Japan: "now AI and translation are being developed well. So, they don't need to learn English if they just do their homework. I think they don't use it as a tool to communicate, just a subject to pass the entrance exam."

　　Jeannie Tse is a country manager at EF Hong Kong and Macau. She spoke¹⁰ to The Standard newspaper in Hong Kong.

　　Tse said that while AI has changed the way young people work and learn, the importance of schools, teachers, and face-to-face instruction remains¹¹. "I do not believe that AI can completely replace language learning," Tse said, "but educators can harness AI to enhance language learning methods."

　　Words in This Story

　　proficiency–n. ability to use or knowledge of a language

　　stable—adj. remain the same

　　practical –adj. related to what is real rather than what is imagined or is a possibility

　　boring –adj. not interesting

　　gender—n. the sex of a person; male or female

　　gap—n. a space between two things

　　engender—v. to cause

　　translation –n. changing writing from one language to another

　　harness—v. to control and make use of

　　enhance –v. to improve or add to something

1 proficiency   

n.精通，熟练，精练

参考例句：

• He plied his trade and gained proficiency in it.他勤习手艺，技术渐渐达到了十分娴熟的地步。
• How do you think of your proficiency in written and spoken English?你认为你的书面英语和口语熟练程度如何？

2 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

3 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

7 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

8 engendered   

v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The issue engendered controversy. 这个问题引起了争论。
• The meeting engendered several quarrels. 这次会议发生了几次争吵。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。