The table illustrates the average results in the IELTS examination of candidates from four different countries, namely Germany, France, Vietnam and Malaysia in the year 2009.
It is clear that there was little difference in the overall scores among the four countries. Germany achieved the highest overall band score, whereas the reverse was true for Vietnam. Notably, speaking emerged as the strongest skill.
Looking first at the European countries, Germany ranked first at 6.7, recording scores above 6.5 in most skills, except for reading, at 6.3. This country led in speaking with 6.9, followed by listening at 6.8 and writing at 6.6. A similar pattern was seen in France with an overall band score of 6.5. Although speaking was its highest category at 6.6, this peak was the lowest among the other countries. French candidates scored relatively high in writing, at 6.5, while listening and reading saw lower scores, at 6.3 and 6.1, respectively.
Turning to the two Asian nations, Malaysia recorded a moderate overall score of 6.4, despite achieving a strong performance in speaking (6.8) and the highest reading score ( 6.4) among all countries. However, band scores in listening and writing were lower, at 6.2 and 6.0, respectively. In addition, Vietnam occupied the bottom position, at 6.3 for overall band score. The primary weakness of this country was reading, at 6.1, which was tied with France. Similarly, listening and writing were comparatively modest, at 6.3 and 6.2, respectively, while speaking reached 6.7.