Being a multicultural country, Malaysia is a place where people from different racial and cultural background live alongside each other peaceably and speak their own mother tongue.
That being said, a recent study found that Malaysians generally are highly proficient when it comes to speaking English, where it was ranked third in the whole of Asia.
M’sia ranked 3rd in Asia for English proficiency
According to a EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI)Â survey, Malaysia is in the upper echelons when it comes to speaking English.
Across 113 non-native English-speaking countries and five proficiency bands ranging from ‘Very High’ to ‘Very Low’, Malaysia is at third place in Asia and in the second highest band of ‘High Proficiency’ with a score of 568.
However, Malaysia lost out to Singapore (631 marks) and the Philippines (578 marks), who took first and second place in Asia respectively.
As for the global ranking, Malaysia came in at 25th place, with the capital city of Kuala Lumpur being the only location to make it into the EF EPI 2023 City list with a score of 564 and at the ‘High Proficiency’ category.
In the survey, it was found that the region with the highest level of English proficiency was the state of Perak (587), while Kuantan was the top city with 603 marks.
As for the age group that was most proficient in the language, it was the 26-30 age group with an average score of 582.
For those who aren’t familiar with the EF EPI survey, the score is largely based on test scores sourced from the EF Standard English Test (EF SET), which is an online assessment of English reading and listening skills.
It is also a test designed to classify test takers’ language abilities into one of the six levels laid out by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
For 2023’s edition of the EF EPI, it was based on test data garnered from over 2,200,000 test takers globally who took the EF SET last year.
What do you think of the survey results? Let us know in the comment section!
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