ELSA is short for English Literacy Skills Assessment. It is a language based assessment but incorporates basic numeracy into the assessment.
The assessment is designed to measure a person's ability to integrate listen, speak, read and writing skills in English. The assessment benchmarks the candidate's current skill against what would be expected of an English mother tongue speaker. Results are expressed in number of years of formal learning in English. It is also equated to NQF levels, equivalent school grades and CEF (Common European Framework) outcomes. The individual report maps the language strengths and weaknesses of the candidate.
The average South African: Functions at English skills level expected after 7 years of formal learning such as in mother tongue users.
36% of South Africans are Functionally Literate
Basic literacy and numeracy skills to cope with life and work in English
Vertical Divider
64% of South Africans are notFunctionally literate
8 years of language exposure competence
The average South-African is NOT Functionally Literate in English!
WHY SHOULD I CARE?
ENGLISH is the language of the work, study and training environment, but it is not necessarily the language of the people. Whether you are a student, CEO, leader, employee, employer or entrepreneur, we tend to agree with Stephen Wang: "Your success will be determined 5% by your academic credentials, 15% by your professional experiences, and 80% by your communication skills."