English Proficiency test excluded the Philippines in Asian ranking

The Philippines remain as the 5th Largest English Speaking country in the World. Recent English proficiency test excluded the Philippines in ranking among countries with high English proficiency as the record shows that the country remain at large as the 5th largest English speaking country in the world. International research and surveys such as IBM shows that the Philippines !niversities are producing not less than 5""#""" English speaking graduates each year which is vital for the continuously growing BP$ industry in the country. In %"&"# the Philippines gain a new title as the num'er & in BP$ country in the world surpassing India. (he Philippines English is mixed of )merican and British English which the language itself were a'le to grow within the archipelagic country. )ccording to the BP$ clients in the !*# the country s English is so competitive as evidenced 'y the fast growing outsourcing industry. Besides# the Philippines English accents is the most preferred 'y the western countries 'ecause it is neutral and is more comprehenda'le and +ilipino tongue is so flexi'le and so easy to adapt the western accent and make them attuned. (ata the 'iggest outsourcing firm in India have opened their BP$ office in the +ort Bonifacio# Philippines after they got a continuous demand from their !* clients looking for Philippines English speaker to deal with their accounts. ,ust recently# a small !*-'ased private 'usiness English training and testing institution .Education +irst. came out with an English proficiency ranking report of // countries. $f the )sian countries that were included in the report Malaysia had the highest English proficiency index 0EPI1 of 55.5/# a .high proficiency. level# and is ranked 2th.

(he exclusion of the Philippines in the ranking was mentioned as the country still a'le to stand with their title as the 5th largest English speaking country in the world. +or so many +ilipinos traveling around the glo'e and &"3 of their population or 2 to &" Million +ilipinos working outside the Philippines4 there is no incident happened and none of their constituents fallen into a deep well 'ecause of 5umping into a well with a sign 6Be careful pitfalls ahead7. +or the // countries tested in English proficiency# 8a9akhstan ranked //th with a .very low. English proficiency EPI of :&.;5. ) group of professionals in the Philippines drafting a petition for the exclusion of the professionals of the Philippines from taking any English examination which is usually conducted 'y the IE<(* and ($E+< as a preliminary re=uirement for +ilipinos to migrate in the other English countries like )ustralia# !8 and !*) and planned to include the Philippines to the list of the native English speaking countries. (he said petition would pass through the hole of a spike as the Philippines still suffered the discrimination from the other native English countries and $E>? mem'er countries for a poor economy in spite of very rich resources including metallic minerals# oil# gas and natures. (he Philippines native such as Igorot# *u'ano# and other lumads or a'origins of the country have the same case with the )ustralian a'origins. )ccording to a research# it is normal that there are some less educated locals who could not understand or speak English and those tri'es or group of people are not a migrant type. In )ustralia# a known English native country in $ceania has the same issue with the Philippines. (he )ustralian a'originals could not even speak English at all. (he recent English testing methodology conducted 'y the 6Education +irst7 was also disclosed their full report# that there were %#:@A#;:" test takers that were included in the ranking except the +ilipinos who were voluntarily taking the English test. (he Philippines must have to cele'rate as the country still en5oys a good English speaking population# as represented 'y half a million English-proficient employees of the !*B2 'illion ?ollar revenue contri'utor of the country for the 'usiness process outsourcing industry. (he Philippines is one of the *tates of the !nited *tates of )merica from &A2A to &2/" which official language and language of instruction used is English. ,ohn <angford# executive vice president for the Business Process )ssociation of the Philippines 0BP)P1# said the Philippines still has a competitive edge in English proficiency primarily due to its affinity with Cestern cultures.

In fact# +ilipinos consume a lot of foreign films and (D in English# which are not du''ed or given English su'titles. *chool text'ooks and medium of instruction are also mostly in English except for +ilipino-related su'5ects. $f course# this does not necessarily mean that English proficiency is constantly good among +ilipinos. )s <angford said# the proficiency itself is declining relative to the growth of the BP$ industry demands. .Ce need to continue to partner with the government and academe to continue raising the level of English proficiency of the +ilipinos in order to sustain the future growth of the industry in the Philippines#. <angford said. $n the other hand# other expert says that the +ilipino must not 'e overacting and a muted English perfectionist which triggers other +ilipinos to shut-up of fear that other will correct them if they would 'e saying a sentence in a wrong grammar. *uch +ilipino attitude will make the English proficiency of the +ilipinos dropping down and it would affect the country s English proficiency. .I advice that the +ilipino must keep on talking and express their feelings in English and ignore the people who love correcting mistakes# in such manner they would 'e train and continue improving their English skills# as they would 'e more familiari9ed with the English terminology4 later they could polished it and could make it perfect. an expert said.

PH: World's best country in business English

Cell# people will now have to think twice 'efore mocking PinoysE use of the English language. (he Philippines was named the world s 'est country in 'usiness English proficiency# even 'eating the !nited *tates# according to a recent study 'y Flo'alEnglish >orporation. Flo'alEnglish has released early this month the results of its annual Business English Index 0BEI1# the only index that measures 'usiness English proficiency in the workplace. +or %"&%# results showed that from ;@ represented countries worldwide# only the Philippines attained a score a'ove ;."# .a BEI level within range of a high proficiency that indicates an a'ility to take an active role in 'usiness discussions and perform relatively complex tasks.. 6(his is particularly interesting 'ecause the Philippines# a country with one-tenth of the population of India# recently overtook India as a hu' for call centers. $ver /""#""" +ilipinos are now employed in call centers# roughly 5"#""" more than in India#7 the study said. (he Philippines# which scored ;.&& and the lone country in the intermediate level# were 5oined 'y Gorway 0@.5/1# Estonia 0@./51# *er'ia 0@.:A1 and *lovenia 0@.&21 in the top five.

Flo'alEnglish noted that a country s 'usiness English capa'ility is an indicator of its economic growth and 'usiness success. 6It is not surprising that 'oth the Philippines and GorwayHthe only two countries in the top five in 'oth %"&& and %"&%Hare improving their economies# 'ased on the latest F?P data from the Corld Bank#7 it added. Meanwhile# struggling economic powers 0,apan# Italy and Mexico1 and fast-growth emerging markets 0Bra9il# >olum'ia and >hile1 scored 'elow a /." in 'usiness English proficiency# placing them at a disadvantage when competing in a glo'al marketplace# the study said. It also pointed out that shifts in glo'al talent have put even English-speaking countries at risk. 6*urprisingly the BEI score for glo'al workers in the !.*. declined from @.2 to 5."2 since the original %"&& BEI 'enchmark# which is attri'uted to a ma5ority of test takers 'eing foreign-'orn engineers and scientists#7 the report said. Rest of the world ranked 'eginner and 'asic level Based on a scale of &-&"# the average %"&% BEI score across &"A#""" test takers around the world is /.&5 which is lower than last year s /./@. Gearly four out of &" 0:A.% percent1 glo'al workers from ;@ countries were ranked as 'usiness English 'eginners# meaning that# on average# they can t understand or communicate 'asic information during virtual or in-person meetings# read or write professional emails in English or deal with complexity and rapid change in a glo'al 'usiness environment# the study said. Meanwhile# the ma5ority of glo'al workers 0@".5 percent1 from the represented countries scored 'etween a /." and ;."# 'elow an intermediate level# indicating an ina'ility to take an active role in 'usiness discussions or perform relatively complex tasks such as presentation development and customer or partner negotiations# it added. Flo'alEnglish stressed that the %"&% BEI which showed a lack of 'usiness English proficiency is threatening the productivity of companies# industries and country-specific economies this year. 6Poor Business English skills are 'ad for glo'al 'usinesses and this year s Business English Index suggests that many companies will 'e hard-pressed to achieve their desired performance goals during %"&%#7 said (om 8ahl# Flo'alEnglish President. 6)ddressing English skills gaps and ensuring that employees can immediately perform at the necessary proficiency level should 'e viewed as a strategic imperative for multinational 'usinesses# as Enterprise +luency# the a'ility to seamlessly communicate and colla'orate within glo'al organi9ations# can deliver significant financial upside#7 8ahl added. Iead=uartered in Bris'ane# >alifornia# Flo'alEnglish works with multinational companies J including >isco# Procter and Fam'le# I*B># Ph9er J to support performance in 'usiness English across the workforce around the world.

IereEs the list of the &" 'est and worst countries in the world for 'usiness English proficiency 'ased on Flo'alEnglishEs %"&% BEIK &" Best >ountriesK Philippines Gorway *er'ia *lovenia )ustralia Malaysia India <ithuania *ingapore >anada &" Corst >ountriesK )rmenia >ote dEIvoire (aiwan Ionduras >olum'ia >hile El *alvador *audi )ra'ia Israel Bra9il