How 15-Year-Olds Learn English
Case Studies from Finland, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands and Portugal
This report takes the reader into the lives of young people in Finland, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands and Portugal to explore the question: how do 15-year-olds learn English? Gone are the days when learners only encountered English for a couple of hours a week in a classroom. For today's teens, English is often the preferred language of communication in increasingly diverse online and offline communities. Yet relatively little is known internationally about how students learn English inside and outside school, and the resources available to help them. This report presents country findings from interviews with 15-year-olds, English-language teachers and school principals and wider background research, as well as a comparative chapter on key international insights. The report also explores how today’s digital technologies can support learners to develop foreign language proficiency. These findings support the forthcoming PISA 2025 Foreign Language Assessment through which the OECD will generate comparable data on students’ proficiency in English in different countries and on the factors related to it.
Overview
In many countries, school students have more lesson hours for English language than ever before. At the same time, English’s position as a global lingua franca means young people across the world encounter English in the digital and physical world on an almost daily basis. In this context, how do today’s 15-year-olds learn English? To explore this question and as part of the introduction of the Programme for International Student Assessment’s (PISA) Foreign Language Assessment in 2025, the OECD analysed the situation in five countries: Finland, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands and Portugal. This chapter provides an overview of this research, including rationale, key objectives and methodology. It also summarises key findings for each country and comparative insights.
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