Doreen1
Doreen Tang
Professor Karen Yang
Advanced Writing (1)
3, October 2023
English Education in Asian Countries
Among Asian, do you know which country speaks the most fluent English
language nowadays? As technology and transportation advance, the relationships
between countries are getting closer. Therefore, cross-cultural communication is
highly regarded. So far, English is the most widely used language around the world.
Due to the trend, many Asian countries invest a lot of effort in English education,
such as India and the Philippines. Their success of English education—ranking third
in TOEFL test among Asian countries in 2015 (1)–– is attributed to the influence of
colonization but the education still has subtle variances due to culture differences
between India and Philippines.
Both India and the Philippines were colonized by English-speaking countries—
Britain and America respectively—profoundly impacting their language use, culture,
and educational systems. After being colonized, English integrated into their societies
and became their national language. British and Americans introduced abundant
English cultures to their colonies, making English an integral part of their lives. For
instance, British and American food, movies, and novels are essential aspects of
English education. These cultural influences created an excellent environment for
Indians and Filipinos to learn English. As developing countries, India and the
Philippines have limited time to translate foreign resources into their native
languages, providing numerous opportunities for them to acquaint themselves with
the English language. Additionally, British and Americans enacted laws to establish
English as the main language for teaching students in their colonies. Evidently,
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colonization, daily applications, and education policy indeed contributed to the
promotion of English language learning.
Although similar legislations were implemented in both India and the
Philippines, the cultural differences in policy, beliefs, and vary degrees of identity
with English lead to dissimilar results. Concerning the education policy, India
introduces English as a second language during grades six to eight in elementary
school. On the other hand, the Philippines educates students in English from the
fourth grade onwards in elementary school. English is more like a complementary
language for Indians, but it is a truly national language for Filipinos. Therefore, in
India, only 10.67% of the total population can speak English (2), meaning that out of
ten Indians, only one can speak English. In contrast, in the Philippines, the literacy
rate has already reached 93%, implying that you can easily communicate with anyone
on the streets of the Philippines in English. Apart from the education system, religion
also plays a significant role in language education. Often, language learners can study
faster after understanding the cultural background. This general acceptance also
applies to Filipinos, like the British and Americans, who also practice Christianity.
Since Indians follow Hindi and Islam instead of Christianity, they do not have a
strong sense of identity with English culture. Generally, only educated elite Indians
continue to learn English to achieve higher degrees or deeper knowledge. In contrast,
the Philippines has incorporated English into its economic industry and has grown
into the world's largest customer service center.
In conclusion, the similar historical backgrounds and education policies make
these two Asian countries proficient in English speaking. However, slight differences
in the educational system, religion, and learning methods make Philippines English
education seems more successful than Indian English at present.
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Works Cited
(1) 教育部：<亞洲國家托福成績概況分析>，教育部統計處，2016 年 7 月
7 日，
https://stats.moe.gov.tw/files/brief/%E4%BA%9E%E6%B4%B2%E5%9C%8B
%E5%AE%B6%E6%89%98%E7%A6%8F%E6%88%90%E7%B8%BE%E6%
A6%82%E6%B3%81%E5%88%86%E6%9E%90.pdf，2023 年 10 月 2 日讀
取。
(2) Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner. “C-17: Population
by bilingualism and trilingualism, India – 2011.” 2011. Ministry of Home
Affairs, Government of India,
https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/10262. Accessed 2 Oct 2023.
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