`Konkanis' excel in English globally
Gomantak Times


PANAJI: Konkani-speaking students have a better command over English
language than their counterparts all over the world, according to data
published by US-based Educational Testing Service (ETS).

Konkani-speaking students who appeared for the Test of English as
Foreign Language (TOEFL) conducted by ETS at around 150 centres all over the
world have consistently emerged at the top during 1993-98.

The basic examination conducted by the New Jersey-based institution which
helps students get admission in universities has Konkani candidates in their
elements and they get the best average in the entire world.

An Israeli linguist Dr Dennis Kurzon who attended the Convention of Overseas
Goans yesterday told reporters that this interesting data had prompted him
to conduct research to find out why they excel in English.

Dr Kurzon who teaches English at Haifa University in Israel has collected
data through questionnaires distributed to 200 Goan students in five Goan
colleges and 100 students in Kochi and Mangalore where, Konkani-speaking
minorities are also found.

According to the ETS data, a Konkani student's average grade was 622 during
the 1993-95 TOEFL exam while Maltese and Dutch students' average was 610 and
608 respectively.

During 1995-96, they again scored over Dutch students and managed to get an
average of 615 while Danish students secured 609. In 1996-97 and 1997-98,
Konkani students again outstripped their Dutch counterparts.

During the five-year period from 1993 to 1998, a total of 1,606 Konkani
students appeared for the exam and 68 per cent answered it at centres in
India. They also had better averages in the spoken test in 1993-95.

Dr Kurzon whose other interests are in the field of pragmatics and legal
language has lately published a book on `Silence'. The UK-born linguist says
his work is almost complete and co-relation of data gathered in Goa,
Mangalore and Ernakulam forms the remainder of the work.