An analysis of English-language proficiency among US immigrants

We examine factors that influence the process by which foreign-born persons whose mother tongue is not English acquire English-language proficiency. We argue that the determinants of English-language proficiency include cultural and other traits that U.S. immigrants acquire either at birth or while growing up in their home countries, the human capital and other endowments they possess at the time they migrate to the United States, and the skills and other experiences they accumulate after their arrival in this conntry. Based on data from the November 1989 Current Population Survey our results confirm that both pre- and post-immigration phases of the life cycle contain elements that are associated with how well immigrants to the United Stares speak English.