Competency Disparities: Dissecting the English Proficiency Mapping across Southeast Asia

Abstract

This study aims to map the English proficiency index across ASEAN member countries and analyze the structural factors causing competency gaps between 2021 and 2025. Employing a descriptive-comparative method with a literature review approach, this study analyzes secondary data from the EF English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) of eight Southeast Asian countries selected via purposive sampling. The results demonstrate a sharp macroeconomic polarization in linguistic competency. Malaysia and Philippines secure the top tier within the "High Proficiency" cluster (scores >550), driven by long-standing institutional integrations. Conversely, Indonesia experiences chronic educational inertia, remaining stagnant in the "Low Proficiency" cluster with a weak Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 0.27% (scoring 466 to 471). This wide gap (up to 110 points against Malaysia in 2025) imposes a substantial opportunity cost on Indonesia's macroeconomy, decreasing the marginal productivity of human capital, restricting cross-border digital trade, and weakening regional competitiveness. Strategic curricula restructuring towards standardized communicative methods (CEFR) is urgently required to resolve this structural barrier