Linguistic Distance or Difference? Bringing Linguistics Into the Study of Immigrants English Language Proficiency

• In Event: 129 - Section on Latino/a Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 02. Acculturation and Construction of Latino Identity

Abstract

Immigrants' integration into a host society's labor market and civil society is fundamentally dependent on the acquisition of vital language skills. New Immigrant Survey 2003 data are used to examine the factors affecting adult immigrants' English language proficiency in the U.S. In particular, this study explores the influence of immigrants' language backgrounds on proficiency in speaking and understanding English. A rigorous and universally applicable measure of the sound-based phonemic diversity of immigrant languages is assessed against an established, yet more limited, measure of linguistic distance. Results show that immigrants who speak a language with greater phonemic diversity have a significantly higher likelihood of becoming proficient in English even after accounting for sociodemographic differences. Notably, linguistic distance appears to have no effect on English proficiency after accounting for language families.

Author

• Aaron Ponce, Indiana University