A comparison between the English level and use of Information and Communication Technologies in Spain and Sweden

Abstract

In today’s globalized world, the importance of English is undeniable. Schools from all around the world try to improve the English level of their students and some teachers make use of ICT’s in their classes in order to make them more interesting, entertaining and student-centered. This is the reason why numerous studies (i. e. Education First English Proficiency Index, The European Survey on Language Competences) are conducted at European level with the only objective to measure the level of English in each member state. The results always situate Spain in the queue and northern countries such as Sweden are located at the beginning of the ranking. The European Survey on Language Competences has been used in order to compare the results acquired by Spain and Sweden in order to evaluate their education systems. Moreover, a study of their national curriculums and language teaching methodologies has been conducted. Also, as ICT’s have acquired an important position in nowadays schools, the European Union presented The Second Survey of Schools: ICT in Education (2019) in order to update the results of The First Survey of Schools: ICT in Education (2011). Thus, the results acquired by Spain and Sweden in these two surveys have been compared. The aim of this paper is, first of all, to determine why Spain obtains such results and determine if it is necessary to change the actual education system; and secondly, establish if Spanish and Swedish schools are sufficiently prepared to make use of ICT’s in their everyday classes. The results related to the English level of students in secondary education, were the ones expected and once again it is demonstrated that the Spanish education system needs to regulate education from another point of view and that it is important to set new policies. On the other hand, the study related to the equipment and use of ICT’s reveals important improvements. However, further studies should be conducted to analyse the actual situation of the Spanish education system.