English proficiency fades if not practised regularly

Re: “English proficiency indicators to be drawn up”, National, February 20.

It is interesting to read that preparations are under way by the Thailand Professional Qualification Institute to develop occupation-based tests of English-language proficiency. There would be one specialised test for food service staff, another for aircraft maintenance technicians, and presumably the same for other specialities, such as hospital workers and hotel employees.

That’s all very well, just so long as those reviewing the results appreciate that test marks of this type indicate language ability at the moment of the test, and therefore their validity should not extend beyond a year or two. That’s because our continuing ability in a foreign language largely depends on our making regular use of it, by practice.

For example, I used to live in Turkey. I quickly picked up a working knowledge of the language but, since leaving, my proficiency has withered to almost nothing due to disuse.

So these new tests are best seen as a benchmark, showing language skills at a particular time. Over time, those skills might be enhanced with further development or completely lost. Therefore the published validity of the test results should, like IELTS (valid for two years only) be of limited duration.

Paul Surtees