Current Issue 5

Title of Article: “Latino Immigrants’ Children Found Grasping English”
Publisher: The New York Times
Date of Publication: November 30, 2007
Author: Julia Preston

Summary:
This article shows a predictable trend in English language acquisition of Latino Americans. The studies of this article basically show that the longer Hispanic immigrant families live in America the more likely individuals are to speak English fluently.

To cite a graph presented in the article, information is presented on the “Percentage of people in each generation of Hispanic immigrant families who said they speak English very well.” Statistics are presented according to generations labeled: “First”, “Second”, “Third and Later.” It is stated that 23% of “first” generation Latino immigrants claim to speak English very well. 88% of “second” generation families claim to speak well and 94% of “third and later” generations claim to speak well.

Basically, as families enter America, children are very likely to grow into adults who speak English well. Their parents, however, are less likely to grasp the language. Such studies have been done in order to “address rising worries among some voters that immigrants arriving from Latin America in the last two decades have resisted learning English and are failing to assimilate into American society.” (page 1) The report also finds that 46% of Latino adults say that “poor English skills as the leading cause of discrimination against them.”

An interesting finding of this study is that the country of origin of Latino immigrants also seems to play a role in English fluency. It was found that 71% of Mexican immigrants “spoke little or no English.” Puerto Ricans, however, are “the most likely to speak English well.