The French, always on guard for infections of Englishism on their precious corps culturel, have suffered another blow. An international study of basic literacy, conducted by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, has ranked France last among seven Western industrialized countries — barely ahead of Poland. More than 40 percent of France’s adult population scored in the lowest level of reading proficiency, a figure twice as bad as that for — zut alors! — the United States. What’s a proud Frenchman to do?
Simple: Reject the study and order all references to France expunged. That’s what the French Edcation Ministry has done. The reading tests in question, says Ministry official Claude Thelot, were spoiled by “Anglo-Saxon culture.” How so? One exercise outlined the egg recipe for a four-person cake and then asked how many eggs would be required to feed six. French people don’t learn this way, sniffs M. Thelot. “If you make a mistake of one egg, your cake may not be spoiled.” Every ecolier knows that.
But the Anglo-Saxons get the last laugh. The French now wrap their arms around the “culture bias” critique of unwelcome standardized test results, a peculiarly American export if ever there were one. Touche!
