PISA to include English as a Foreign Language Assessment this Year

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) -- the OECD body that currently measures 15 year olds across reading, mathematics, and science to establish a skills comparison across countries -- is piloting a new test this year. 16 EU countries have agreed to be a test bed for a new English as a Foreign Language Assessment.

This is intended to be the first of potentially several language based assessments, with English as the tip of the spear given it is taught in almost 100% of European schools. A few things on my mind:

• The internet has created vast networks of informal English learning (memes, politics, TV shows, etc.) that operate outside of traditional pedagogy. As a result, we'll see an ever increasing # of assessments and certifications pop up around measuring exactly what proficient in English means.
• These certifications will be expensive and value will at first accrue to established test makers like Cambridge (who is leading the PISA effort), but lower priced bidders will eat into this over time.
• America's "foreign language deficit" will grow over time, with the functional penalty for monolingualism decreasing for everyone, but the strategic value of multilingualism accruing almost exclusively to families with resources.