Indians beat Englishmen in English
By siliconindia   |   Friday, 12 August 2011, 00:30 IST   |    6 Comments
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Indians beat Englishmen in English
Bangalore: Indians are known for their outstanding performance in global level in Science and Math. The students with Indian mother tongue excel in the test of English as a foreign language (TOEFL) and also beat people whose native language is English, TNN journalist Hemali Chhapia reported. This was revealed in a survey analysis by educational testing service (ETS) which conducts TOEFL exams. This exam is mandatory even for British students who apply in American universities. The TOEFL exams are taken by middle and higher income group of students. According to the survey, Konkanis and Malayalis residing in foreign countries are superior in their writing and communication skills than native English speakers. Peggy Mohan, a linguist explicated how the Indians brought improvement in English by depicting the difference between bilingualism and diglossia. He said "An English-speaking Indian has native-like intuition in English, unlike a Chinese for whom English is assembled by a more academic thought process. For an Indian, English is more like an adjunct native language. We do some of our thinking in our Indian language and other things in English - that is, we have a native competence that spans two or more languages. No wonder we do so well in TOEFL." The online TOEFL test was launched in September 2005-06 and since then Guajaratis have improved their average from 78-84 while Hindi speaking students scored 96; Kannadigas scored 97 and Maharashtrians registered an average of 97. "TOEFL provides accurate scores at the individual level; it is not appropriate for comparing countries," clarified Walt MacDonald, ETS Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer. "The differences in the number of students taking the test in each country, how early English is introduced into the curriculum, how many hours per week are devoted to learning English, and the fact that those taking the test are not representative of all English speakers in each country or any defined population," said MacDonald. Even students from rural areas and pedestrian schools have been excelling in the exam. Many governments have introduced English as the medium of instruction in public schools. "There is a huge amount of English in the country now. Everybody knows a fair amount of English. Also, Indians are intrinsically bright. When they apply themselves to a task, they do well at it," said Yasmeen Lukmani, former English HOD at the University of Mumbai.

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