Safer assumptions on Filipino English

Somsak Pola was correct in asserting that the Philippines was not included in the most recent Education First (EF) study. I falsely believed the Philippines was behind both South Korea and Japan in English skills since I couldn’t find its score on the English Proficiency Index (EPI) in the article I read. Not all of the 70-some participating nations were listed and I assumed the Philippines had scored lower than the two previously mentioned.

Nonetheless, Mr Pola might have erred on another level. EF counts only those countries where 400 or more respondents complete the survey in a given year. So the reason the Philippines was not included might be because too few Filipinos completed the questionnaire, rather than, as the writer asserted, because EF considers the Philippines an English-speaking country. After all, Tagalog is the official language there. 

Wikipedia lists the six native-English-speaking countries as Canada, the US, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. Since EF included Singapore in its study, it is doubtful the organisation would purposely exclude the Philippines. 

Nonetheless I have no doubt that, in a properly run study, Filipinos would demonstrate better English ability than Koreans or Japanese.

Thai teacher in Penang

Khon Kaen