In the 21st century, many languages are spoken and written globally. But the most important among all of them is English because almost every country, state, and even small provinces use this language as their mode of communication, making it an intercontinental language. According to reports, English is the official language of around 53 counties.
Many countries including INDIA use this language in their school syllabus to make the children presentable at the global level. Moreover, English also helps in removing many barriers from one’s life.
Bookkeeper and Bookkeeping are the only two words in English language with three consecutive double letters.
Advantages of English as a global language
English has numerous merits. Some of the advantages of studying English are discussed below: –
- Helps in getting employment in almost every part of the world: – If a person wants to do a job in some MNC or a global business basic necessity is English. This is because most MNCs have English as their official language of communication.
- It helps to enhance a person’s personality: – English not only enhances the personality of an individual, but also makes him/her presentable in front of others which is very much important.
- It brings entertainment to life: – Understanding English means a person will be able to enjoy more books (in form of novels, classics, comics etc.), more music and yes of course, access to numerous movies apart from ones in his/her first language
- English helps a person with more access to the internet: – Globally, around 1 billion people chat and type in this language. One can read online news, can learn tweets from mentors who write in English and what not? Moreover, any employee being able to write emails or other correspondences in English is another important asset for employers.
- Most importantly, English can help a person to get into educational institutions. Many English -language oriented schools, colleges and universities are present across the globe. Admission in such premiere institutes requires a good command of the language. If a person learns English and makes good hold over it to pass English language proficiency tests he/she becomes eligible for taking admission in these institutes.
English Proficiency tests
Many tests are available and a student can go for these tests according to his/her choice or according to the eligibility criteria of the institute in which he/she wants to get in. Some of the available proficiency tests are: –
- TOEFL (Test of English as a foreign language): It is the most common proficiency test and probably the best also. It’s a test with a duration of 4 hours and has 4 sections namely- Reading comprehension, listening comprehension, speaking, and written expression. Each section is worth 30 points for a maximum score of 120.
Score range of 90-100 is required by many universities, which is equivalent to B2 in the Common European Framework (CEF) proficiency levels. Also, a minimum score is required by some universities in each section in addition to a minimum overall score. This test is conducted on fixed dates more than 50 times a year.
Universities like Harvard, Princeton, Columbia etc. offer admissions on the basis of TOEFL score of TOEFL.
- IELTS (The international English language testing system; Academic-Version): This test is widely recognized by many educational institutes around the world. This test has two versions: Academic version (For admission purposes of students) and General training version (Meant for government bodies and immigration purposes).
The duration for this test is 3 hours and is supported by a wide pattern of questions as compared to TOEFL. In this test a mix of Multiple choice, diagram labelling, short answer, matching etc. questions are present. Sections include- Listening (40 minutes), reading (60 minutes), writing (60 minutes), and speaking (11-14 minutes)
Universities like Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, etc. offer admissions on the basis of TOEFL scores.
- CAE (Certificate of Advance English): This test is not as popular as that of the other two but some universities of the UNITED KINGDOM offer admissions on the basis of the score of this test. It is a 4-hour long test and questions are of- match the following, multiple choice etc. format.
Sections of this test include- Reading and use of English (90 minutes), writing (90 minutes), listening (40 minutes), speaking (15 minutes).
Universities like Michigan, Victoria university (Melbourne) etc. accept scores of this test in the admission process.
Conclusion
Although many proficiency tests are available presently, it remains a dilemma among students which test they should take to get into good universities globally. Students should primarily shortlist the universities in which they want to take admission and after that they should go for the complete eligibility criteria of those universities. This will make it easy for them to choose from all the available tests. Every test has its own importance and demand which can’t be neglected.
Also published on Medium.