Ethnic networks and language proficiency among immigrants

Abstract

Immigrants in the main immigrant receiving countries (such as Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel and the United States) acquire fluency in the dominant language of the destination with the passage of time, and the possession of these skills enhances prospects for economic success (Chiswick and Miller 1992, 1995). Consequently, knowledge of the process through which the language skills are acquired is important for understanding immigrant wellbeing. Much of the research into language proficiency has focussed on individual characteristics that affect language choice and proficiency, for example, educational attainment, duration of residence and exposure to the dominant language prior to migration. It has been shown, for example, that destination language fluency rates are higher among the better educated, among those in the country for a longer period of time, and among those exposed to the language prior to migration. There are also systematic effects by marital status, family composition, country of origin, and motive for migrating. Estimation of language choice and proficiency models using different data sets for the same country, and using similar specifications for different countries, reveals that these individual effects are remarkably robust (Chiswick and Miller 1992, 1994a, 1995).

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