For the first time, the annual “EF English Proficiency Index” has collected English proficiency data on immigrant adults learning English as a second language in predominately English-speaking countries.

When I talk about TOEIC testing with businesses, many wonder why they would need such testing here in the United States. The U.S. after all is an English-language-speaking country. Isn't it?

Maybe not to the extent you would think.

According to the latest Immigration Outlook study from OECD, the United States is the world's top destination for permanent immigrants. By 2009, the most recent year for which census data is available, 13% of U.S. residents were foreign-born, and the percentage continues to grow.

Especially in large, insular immigrant communities and among those who immigate as adults, English is learned slowly. For example, one in three of all Asian Americans report problems communicating in English according to a recent report from the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice.