Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Linguistic Proficiency and Acculturation: Role of Family, Neighborhood, and Metropolitan Area

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Demographic and Socioeconomic Basis of Ethnolinguistics

  • 514 Accesses

Abstract

Proficiency in a language is essential for proper psychological and social development of a child, whether it is a matter of the first language or the new language of a host country. The quality of this language-learning process varies for a variety of reasons, among them the demographic, linguistic, social, and economic characteristics of the family into which the child is born and by which it is reared. Such characteristics include the age, race, and ethnicity of the parents, the number of children and order of birth of each child, the generational status of the child, its nativity, the language practices of the parents, and the parents’ education and income status. The pathways of influence in language learning within the family are clearly numerous and complex. A child’s language development is also influenced by the pre-school and neighborhood environment in which the child is raised and educated, and the broader environment in which the family lives, such as the physical environment and the metropolitan status of the area. These topics will be elaborated in the present chapter.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    See also the references on ethnic enclaves in Chap. 8 and the references on linguistic territoriality in Chap. 9.

List of References and Suggested Readings

See also the references on ethnic enclaves in Chap. 8 and the references on linguistic territoriality in Chap. 9.

General

  • Bean, F. D., & Stevens, G. (1993). The linguistic adaptation of U. S. immigrants and their children. Washington, DC: National Science Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bean, F. D., & Stevens, G. (2003). America’s newcomers and the dynamics of diversity, Rose series in sociology. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiswick, B. R. (Ed.). (1992). Immigration, language, and ethnicity: Canada and the United States. Washington, DC: The American Enterprise Institute Press.

    Google Scholar 

Linguistic Development of Children

  • Cabrera, N. J., Shannon, J. D., & Tamis-LeMonda, C. (2007). Father’s influence on their children’s cognitive and emotional development: From toddlers to pre-K. Applied Developmental Science, 11(4), 208–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiswick, B. R., Miller, P. W., & Lee, Y. (2005). Parents and children talk. Paper presented at the annual meeting, Population Association of America, Philadelphia, PA, March 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fillmore, C. J., Kempler, D., & Wang, W. S.-Y. (Eds.). (1979). Individual differences in language ability and language behavior. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoff-Ginsberg, E. (1998). The relation of birth order and socioeconomic status to children’s language experience and language development. Applied PsychoLinguistics, 19(4), 603–631.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ortiz, E. A. (2009). The influence of family structures and the role of siblings on early language development of Latino preschool children. All graduate theses and dissertations, paper 489. Utah State University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pan, B. A., Rowe, M. L., Singer, J., & Snow, C. E. (2005). Maternal correlates of toddler vocabulary production in low-income families. Child Development, 76(4), 763–782.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pancsofar, N., & Vernon-Feagans, L. (2006). Mother and father language input to young children: Contributions to later language development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 27(6), 571–586.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pancsofar, N., & Vernon-Feagans, L. (2010). Father’s early contributions to children’s language development in families from low-income rural communities. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26(4), 450–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodiguez, E. T., & Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. (2011, June). Trajectories of the home learning environment across the first 5 years: Association with children’s vocabulary and literary skills at pre-kindergarten. Child Development, 82(4), 1058–1075.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodiguez, E. T., Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Spellmann, M. E., Pan, B. A., et al. (2009, Nov/Dec). The formative role of home literacy experiences across the first three years of life in children from low-income families. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30(6), 677–694.

    Google Scholar 

  • Service, E., & Clark, F. I. M. (1993). Differences between young and older adults in learning a foreign language. Journal of Memory and Language, 32, 608–623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snow, C. E., & Ferguson, C. A. (Eds.). (1978). Talking to children: Language input and acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Baumwell, L., & Cabrera, N. J. (2013). Chapter 8: Father’s role in children’s language development. In N. J. Cabrera & C. S. Tamis-LeMonda (Eds.), Handbook of father involvement: multidisciplinary perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 135–150). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Shannon, J. D., Cabrera, N. J., & Lamb, M. E. (2004). Fathers and mothers at play with their 2- and 3-years olds: Contributions to language and cognitive development. Child Development, 75, 1806–1820.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Determinants of Language and Literacy Acquisition

  • Charette, M. F., & Meng, R. (1998). The determinants of literacy and numeracy, and the effect of literacy and numeracy on labor market outcomes. Canadian Journal of Economics, 31, 495–517.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiswick, B. R., & Miller, P. W. (1994). Language choice among immigrants in a multilingual destination. Journal of Population Economics, 77, 119–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiswick, B. R., & Miller, P. W. (1996a). Ethnic networks and language proficiency among immigrants. Journal of Population Economics, 79, 16–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiswick, B. R., & Miller, P. W. (1996b). The determinants of English language proficiency among immigrants. Paper presented at the annual meeting, Population Association of America, New Orleans, LA, May 9–11, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiswick, B. R., & Miller, P. W. (2001). A model of destination-language acquisition: Application to male immigrants in Canada. Demography, 38(3), 391–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart-Gonzalez, L., & Lindemann, S. (1993). Expected achievement in speaking proficiency, 1993. Washington, DC: School of Language Studies, Foreign Service Institute, Department of State. Mimeographed document.

    Google Scholar 

Second-Language Acquisition by Immigrants

  • Alba, R., Logan, J., Lutz, A., & Stults, B. (2002). Only English by the third generation? Loss and preservation of the mother tongue among the grandchildren of contemporary immigrants. Demography, 39(3), 467–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beenstock, M. (1996). The acquisition of language skills by immigrants: The case of Hebrew in Israel. International Migration, 4, 3–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiswick, B. R. (1998). English language fluency among immigrants in the United States. Research in Labor Economics, 17, 151–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Espenshade, T. J., & Fu, H. (1997). An analysis of English-language proficiency among U.S. immigrants. American Sociological Review, 62(2), 288–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. (2015). America’s children: Key National Indicators of well-being, 2015. Washington, DC: Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fennelly, K., & Palasz, N. (2003). English language proficiency of immigrants and refugees in the twin cities metropolitan area. International Migration, 41(5), 93–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimmerling, B. (2004). Immigrants, settlers, natives: The Israeli state and society between cultural pluralism and cultural wars. Tel-Aviv: Am Oved Publisher Ltd. (in Hebrew).

    Google Scholar 

  • Kristen, C., MĂĽhlau, P., & Schlacht, D. (2016). Language acquisition of recently arrived immigrants in England, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands. Ethnicities, 16(2), 190–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2015). Issue brief: Language integration. In The integration of immigrants into American society. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oropesa, R. S., & Landale, N. (1997). In search of the new second generation: Alternative strategies for identifying second generation children and understanding their acquisition of English. Sociological Perspectives, 40, 429–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A., & Schauffler, R. (1994). Language and the second generation: Bilingualism yesterday and today. International Migration Review, 28, 640–661.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romaine, S. (2010). Language contact in the U.S.A. In K. Potowski (Ed.), Language diversity in the U.S.A. (pp. 35–46). Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spolsky, B. (2002). Prospects for the survival of the Navajo language: A reconsideration. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 33(2), 129–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, G. (1985, February). Nativity, intermarriage, and mother tongue shift. American Sociological Review, 50(1), 74–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, G. (1986). Sex differences in language shift in the United States. Sociology and Social Research, 71, 31–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, G. (1994). Immigration, English language acquisition, and the English language proficiency of immigrants in the United States. In B. Edmonston & J. Passel (Eds.), Immigration and ethnicity: The Integration of America’s newest immigrants (pp. 163–186). Washington, DC: Urban Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, G. (1999). Age at immigration and second language proficiency among foreign-born adults. Language in Society, 28(4), 555–578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, G. (2012). Chapter 12: Age and second language acquisition among immigrants. In E. L. Grigorenko (Ed.), Handbook of US immigration and education. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, G. (2015, October). Trajectories of English acquisition among foreign-born Spanish-language children in the United States. International Migration Review , 49(4), 981–1000.

  • Stevens, G., & Ishizawa, H. (2007). Variation among siblings in the use of a non-English language. Journal of Family Issues, 28(8), 1008–25. http://jfi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/28/8/1008

Area Influences

  • Burr, J. A., & Mutchler, J. E. (2002). English language skills, ethnic communities, and household composition among older Mexican immigrants. Paper presented at the annual meeting, Population Association of America, Atlanta, GA, May 9–11, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chiswick, B. R., & Miller, P. W. (2001). A model of destination-language acquisition: Application to male immigrants in Canada. Demography, 38(3), 391–409.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrett, N. A. (1997). The effect of community context on intergenerational Spanish maintenance and English proficiency among Latina and Latino children. PhD dissertation, May 1997, Graduate College, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL Also published as monograph in paperback.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrett, N. A. and Stevens, G. (1996). The effects of metropolitan context on the use of Spanish among Hispanic Americans. Paper presented at the annual meeting, Population Association of America, New Orleans, LA, May 9–11, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishizawa, H., & Stevens, G. (2007, September). Non-English language neighborhoods in Chicago, Illinois. Social Science Research, 36, 1042–1064.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rickford, J. R., Duncan, G. J., Gennetian, L. A., Gou, R. Y., et al. (2015). Neighborhood effects on use of African-American vernacular English. PNAS, 112(38), 11817–11822.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, G., & Garrett, N. A. (1997). Migrants and the linguistic ecology of New Jersey, 1990. In T. Espenshade (Ed.), Keys to successful immigration: Implication of the New Jersey experience (pp. 395–422). Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. North Bethesda, MD, USA

    Jacob S. Siegel

Authors
  1. Jacob S. Siegel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Siegel, J.S. (2018). Linguistic Proficiency and Acculturation: Role of Family, Neighborhood, and Metropolitan Area. In: Demographic and Socioeconomic Basis of Ethnolinguistics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61778-7_17

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61778-7_17

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-61776-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-61778-7

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation