NCES Quarterly, Winter 2001: English Literacy and Language Minorities in the United States

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Vol 3, Issue 4, Topic: Lifelong Learning

English Literacy and Language Minorities in the United States

By: Elizabeth Greenberg, Reynaldo F. Macías, David Rhodes, and Tsze Chan

This article was originally published as the Executive Summary of the Statistical Analysis Report of the same name. The sample survey data are primarily from the NCES 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey.

Introduction
Major Findings
Conclusion
References

Introduction

English Literacy and Language Minorities in the United States is one report in a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) publications based on the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey. Previously released reports in this series include Adult Literacy and Education in America (Kaestle et al. 2001), Literacy of Older Adults in America (Brown et al. 1996), Literacy Behind Prison Walls (Haigler et al. 1994), and Literacy in the Labor Force (Sum 1999).

The increase in immigration to the United States in the 1970s and 1980s raised concerns among policymakers, researchers, and members of the public about how well immigrants were being integrated into the society and economy of the United States. This report addresses these concerns by providing an in-depth look at adult residents of the United States who were either born in other countries or were born in the United States but spoke a language other than English as young children. The report explores the English fluency and literacy of this population, their fluency and literacy in their native non-English languages, and their employment patterns and earnings.

Survey purpose

The 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey provides the most detailed portrait ever of the English literacy abilities of adults living in the United States. The survey sought to avoid previous characterizations of all adults as either “literate” or “illiterate.” Instead, it profiled the literacy abilities of adults based on their performance on a wide array of tasks that reflect the types of materials and demands they encounter in their daily lives (e.g., interpreting instructions from a warranty, reading maps, balancing a checkbook, or figuring out a tip).

Survey methodology

Survey data were gathered in 1992 by trained staff who interviewed about 13,600 adults residing in U.S. households. The adults were randomly selected to represent the adult population of the country as a whole. In addition, approximately 1,000 adults were interviewed in each of 11 states that chose to participate in a concurrent survey designed to provide state-level results comparable to the national data. Finally, nearly 1,150 inmates in 80 state and federal prisons were surveyed. The prisons were randomly selected to represent prisons across the country, and the inmates themselves were randomly selected from each prison. Overall, approximately 26,000 adults participated in the survey.

Interviewers administered an extensive background questionnaire that collected information about respondents’ language background, demographic characteristics, educational background, reading practices, workforce participation, and other areas related to literacy. Each survey participant also responded to a set of diverse literacy tasks. As a result of their responses to the literacy tasks, adult participants received proficiency scores on three scales that capture increasing levels of difficulty in English prose, document, and quantitative literacy. Data from the background questionnaires, along with the English literacy proficiency scores, produced a wealth of information about the characteristics of people with different literacy skills.

Major Findings

Age matters

The age at which an individual learned to speak English was related to his or her English literacy proficiency as an adult. On average, individuals who entered the United States before age 12 had English literacy proficiency as adults comparable to members of the same racial and ethnic groups who were born in the United States (table A). Virtually everyone who was born in the United States or who immigrated to the United States before age 12 was fluent in English as an adult.

Table A.—Average literacy proficiency scores by racial/ethnic group and age of arrival in United States: 1992
Table A.- Average literacy proficiency scores by racial/ethnic group and age of arrival in United States: 1992

#Sample size is too small to provide a reliable estimate.

NOTE: The differences in average proficiency scores between U.S.-born individuals and those who arrived in the United States at ages 1-11 are not significant for the total poplation or within any of the racial/ethnic groups. Average scores are based on scales that range from 0 to 500. Only adults who could respond to the background questionnaire in English or Spanish are represented in the National Adult Literacy Survey sample. Comparisons between Hispanics and other racial/ethnic groups may not be accurate, since the samples are not comparable for these populations.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Adult Literacy Survey, 1992. (Based on table 2.7 on p. 50 of the complete report from which this article is excerpted.)

Many of the differences in English literacy proficiency between various racial or ethnic groups were due to differences in language backgrounds among the groups. Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic adults were more likely than Whites to have been born in a country other than the United States or to have been raised in homes where a language other than English was spoken. When differences in language backgrounds of members of these racial and ethnic groups were accounted for, the English literacy proficiency of Asians/Pacific Islanders was comparable to that of Whites, and the English literacy proficiency of Hispanics was slightly lower than that of Whites (table A). However, on average, Blacks had lower English literacy proficiency than Whites, and differences in language background did not explain the difference in English literacy proficiency between Blacks and Whites.

There were racial and ethnic group differences in fluency and literacy in languages other than English among adults raised in homes where a language other than English was spoken. Individuals who grew up in homes where Spanish or an Asian language was spoken were more likely to report that they spoke that language as adults than were respondents who grew up in a home where a European language other than Spanish was spoken.

Schooling enhances literacy

Formal education played a fundamental role in the acquisition of English language fluency and literacy for individuals who were raised in non-English-speaking homes, regardless of whether they were immigrants or native born. In particular, among immigrants who arrived in the United States at age 12 or older, level of formal education was related to English language fluency and literacy. Immigrants who arrived in the United States at age 12 or older without the benefit of a substantial amount of formal education received in their native country were the least likely to develop English language skills. Immigrants who arrived at age 12 or older with a substantial level of formal education obtained in their native country were likely to be biliterate and bilingual in English and their native language.

Immigrants who arrived in the United States at age 12 or older with low levels of formal education had very low participation rates in English as a second language and adult basic skills training classes that might have improved their English language skills. This indicates that an important population, which is not currently being served, could benefit from these classes.

Literacy pays

Adults living in the United States who were not fluent in English, primarily immigrants who arrived at age 12 or older with low levels of formal education, were less likely to be employed, and earned lower wages when they were employed, than individuals who were fluent and literate in English. However, fluency and literacy in English at the level of a native speaker were not necessary for successful integration into the American economy. Although individuals who learned English as their second language had lower English literacy levels—as measured by the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey—than individuals who were raised in English-speaking homes, their average income and continuity of employment did not differ from that of native English speakers. They may have brought other skills to the work-place that compensated for their lower levels of English literacy. Additionally, the earnings differential between Hispanics and the total population of the United States disappeared when differences in Hispanics’ levels of English literacy were taken into account.

Conclusion

Only non-native English speakers with low levels of formal education were truly disadvantaged in the labor market by their lack of native English language skills. Most members of this disadvantaged group were not being reached by existing English as a second language and adult basic skills classes.

Other non-native English speakers and immigrants, even those with low levels of English literacy as measured by the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey, were generally able to learn enough English to exhibit employment patterns and earnings comparable to native English speakers.

References

Brown, H., Prisuta, R., Jacobs, B., and Campbell, A. (1996). Literacy of Older Adults in America (NCES 97-576). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

Haigler, K.O., Harlow, C., O’Connor, P., and Campbell, A. (1994). Literacy Behind Prison Walls (NCES 94-102). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Kaestle, C.F., Campbell, A., Finn, J.D., Johnson, S.T., and Mikulecky, L.J. (2001). Adult Literacy and Education in America (NCES 2001-534). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

Sum, A. (1999). Literacy in the Labor Force (NCES 1999-470). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.

Data source: The NCES 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey.

For technical information, see the complete report:

Greenberg, E., Macías, R.F., Rhodes, D., and Chan, T. (2001). English Literacy and Language Minorities in the United States (NCES 2001-464).

Author affiliations: E. Greenberg, D. Rhodes, and T. Chan, American Institutes for Research; R.F. Macías, University of California, Los Angeles.

For questions about content, contact Sheida White (sheida.white@ed.gov) .

To obtain the complete report (NCES 2001-464), visit the NCES Web Site (http://nces.ed.gov).