Reproductive Attitudes and Behavior Among Latina Adolescents

SUMMARY

This study examines the relationship between acculturation and sexual activity, contraceptive use and attitudes toward self. The sample consisted of 290 Latinas participating in a statewide adolescent pregnancy prevention program funded by the California Department of Health Services. Respondents were divided into three groups for purposes of analysis: those born outside the United States, those born in the United States who spoke primarily Spanish in the home, and those born in the United States who spoke primarily English in the home. Results indicated that less acculturated adolescents were less likely to engage in sexual activity. Place of birth was the most important predictor of differences in reproductive attitudes and behavior; language spoken in the home was not a predictor of sexual activity. There were no significant differences in contraceptive use among the sexually active respondents in the three groups. Respondents born outside of the United States had more negatives attitudes toward self on one measure; respondents born in the United States who spoke primarily Spanish in the home were more likely to plan to attend college, and to delay sexual activity because their parents would be upset, than the other groups. The authors suggest factors that may explain these differences in attitudes and behavior among the three groups.     

Birthing,Nativity, and Maternal Depression: Australia and the United States,

This study analyzes two birth cohort surveys, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children and Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, to examine variation in maternal depression by nativity, duration of residence, age at migration, and English proficiency in Australia and the United States. Both countries have long immigrant traditions and a common language. The results demonstrate that US immigrant mothers are significantly less depressed than native‐born mothers, but maternal depression does not differ by nativity in Australia. Moreover, the association between duration of residence and maternal depression is not linear: Recent arrivals and long‐term residents exhibit the highest depression levels. Lack of English proficiency exacerbates maternal depression in Australia, but protects against depression in the United States. Differences in immigration regimes and welfare systems likely contribute to the differing salience of nativity for maternal depression.     

Trajectories of English Acquisition among Foreign‐born Spanish‐Language Children in the United States

The rapidity with which immigrant children learn the dominant language of their country of residence has important short‐term and long‐term consequences for their educational achievements and for their future. In this paper I use US Census data to model trajectories of English acquisition among foreign‐born children living in Spanish‐language households. The results show, as expected, that children's English proficiency increases with length of residence in the United States. However, the results also show a clear trend by age at arrival. The older children are when they arrive in the United States, the less rapid their progress in acquiring proficiency in English.     

Language Background,Ethno‐Racial Origin,and Academic Achievement of Students at a Canadian University

Research conducted in Canada and the United States shows that the age of arrival of immigrant children, language spoken in the home, and ethno‐racial origin have consequences for English language acquisition and academic attainment. So far, however, the degree to which these factors have consequences for academic achievement at the post‐secondary level has scarcely been studied. In this study, it is found that the communication skills of university students who are the sons and daughters of immigrants, independent of length of time in Canada, are not as high as those of native‐born English‐speaking Canadians. Moreover, all else being equal, independent of length of time in the country, the university GPAs of immigrant and non‐European origin groups are generally lower than those of native‐born Canadians. Findings such as these suggest the presence of social and cultural processes at the family, community, and educational system level that continue to disadvantage identifiable groups of post‐secondary students.     

English‐Language Proficiency among Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs in the United States, 1980–2000

This study assesses the determinants of English‐language proficiency among three subgroups of Israeli immigrants in the United States, namely native‐born Israeli Jews, foreign‐born Israeli Jews, and Palestinian Arabs, and how these determinants have changed over time. Multivariate analyses of decennial censuses from 1980, 1990, and 2000 reveal substantial differences in the directions and significance of the relationships between the independent variables and English proficiency of the subgroups under investigation. Ethnoreligious affiliation per se is seen to be an important factor that consistently explains intra‐group variation in English proficiency. This lends support to the split approach over the lump approach in attempting to understand immigrants’ linguistic dynamics in the new country. The findings are discussed in reference to three working hypotheses – “exposure,” “efficiency,” and “economic incentives” – and in the specific sociopolitical conditions of Jews and Arabs at both origin and destination.     

English Language Proficiency Among the Foreign Born in the United States, 1980–2007: Duration,Age, Cohort Effects

This study employs pooled data from the 1980 through 2000 censuses and 2001 through 2007 American Community Survey data to study English language proficiency among foreign‐born in a dynamic framework. Our findings show continuing significance of duration of stay and age at migration and declining English language proficiency across successive cohorts. Additionally, analysis enabled by availability of single‐year data from 2000 to 2007 indicates acquisition of language proficiency as steepest during first 9 years upon arrival and for migrating age group 6–17. Further, we find significant differences by education, regions of origin, racial groups, and by regions of residence.     

Dialect stabilization and speaker awareness in non‐native varieties of English1

Research on indigenized non‐native varieties of English has aimed to distinguish these varieties from individual second language learning in structural and social terms ( B. Kachru 1983 ; Platt, Weber and Ho 1984 ; Cheshire 1991 ) ; however, quantitative evidence of this divergence remains scarce. Through an analysis of a range of Indian English speakers in a contact situation in the United States, this study distinguishes developing dialect features from second language learning features and explores the concomitant emergence of dialect consciousness. First, an implicational analysis shows that some non‐standard variables (past marking, copula use, agreement) exhibit a second language learning cline while others (articles) form a more stable, incipient non‐standard system shared to some extent by all speakers; a multivariate analysis suggests that both sets of variables are governed by proficiency levels. Next, the explanatory scope of proficiency is assessed by examining the use of selected phonological variants (rhoticity, l‐velarization, aspiration). The use of these features resembles native‐like style‐shifting, as it appears to be more sensitive to speakers’ attitudinal stances than to proficiency levels. This points to the importance of understanding emerging speaker awareness and perceptions of stigma, risk, and value in new varieties of English.     

Do native-born bilinguals in the US earn more?

This paper uses the pooled data from 2005 to 2009 American Community Survey to analyze the economic benefits associated with bilingualism for adult men born in the United States. Bilingualism among the native born is defined as speaking a language at home other than or in addition to English. Native born bilingualism is rare; only 6.5% report a non-English language, and of those 71% report Spanish. Most of the native-born bilinguals report speaking English “very well” (85%), with most of the others speaking it “well” (10%). Other variables the same, overall bilinguals earn 4.7% less than monolingual English speakers, but the earnings differential varies sharply by the language spoken. Those who speak Native American languages, Pennsylvania Dutch and Yiddish have very low earnings due to a tendency to live in geographic or cultural enclaves. Spanish speakers earn 20% less than the monolingual English speakers overall, and other variables the same, have statistically significant 7% lower earnings. On the other hand, those who speak certain Western European and East Asian languages and Hebrew earn significantly more than monolingual English speakers.     

Accuracy and Confidence on the Interpersonal Perception Task: A Japanese-American Comparison

This study compared the accuracy and confidence of Japanese and American participants on the Interpersonal Perception Task (IPT-15). The IPT contains 15 brief, real-life scenes on videotape for which there are objectively correct answers about relationships and deception. A total of 344 participants were run in a 2 (Japanese vs. American participants) × 2 (Audiovisual vs. Visual-Only presentation) × 2 (Sex of participant) design. Support was found for the hypothesized greater accuracy of Americans over Japanese, but a Culture × Presentation Modality interaction qualified the main effect of culture. Specifically, Japanese and American participants had virtually identical scores on the IPT-15 in the Visual-Only condition, but Americans' scores increased while Japanese scores decreased in the Audiovisual condition. Analyses of the confidence measures indicated that American participants were much more confident than the Japanese participants, but this difference was larger in the Audiovisual condition than in the Visual-Only condition. In addition, the prediction that women would be more accurate on the IPT, but still report lower confidence than men, was also supported. Finally, Japanese participants with moderate proficiency in spoken English were more accurate on the IPT than those with low English proficiency. The likely processes underlying these differences and the possible directions for future research are discussed.     

Negotiating Languages in Immigrant Families

This study is about the multifaceted nature of language use in immigrant families. Following earlier explorations of language in the segmented assimilation framework and using adolescent and parental data from the 1995 wave of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study, this article examines how adolescents’ use of English with their parents relates to their proficiency in English and ethnic languages, and their personal language preferences, as well as their parents’ language proficiency and use. The findings suggested that adolescent language choice in child–parent interactions reflected the family’s ways to negotiate the distinct linguistic repertoires of immigrant parents and their children. The adolescent use of English was not necessarily associated with social and emotional estrangement between generations. Even when adolescents generally preferred English, they were less likely to use English in child–parent interactions if their parents, particularly their mothers, were less proficient in English. On the other hand, adolescents were more likely to speak English to their parents if their mothers were proficient in English, regardless of what language parents used with the children. Parents who spoke to their children in English likely responded to their children’s doubts about their ethnic language proficiency and were linguistically and emotionally ready to make that transition.     

We Thank Our Reviewers

One of the key elements of understanding mechanisms of social stratification in job market entry is looking at the ways in which groups learn about careers and seek jobs in early adulthood. Online resources for job seeking are growing, yet we know very little about the nature of young adults' use of the Internet for this purpose. Are there types of people who utilize the Internet more than others? If so, are these patterns unique to the Internet or are they the same as those for other sources of information? We address these questions using survey data of 1,060 college first-years at one of the most ethnically diverse universities in the United States. The survey includes extensive measures of demographics, academic achievement, Internet experiences, as well as job-seeking practices. We find that African Americans, Asians, and Caucasians who grew up speaking a language other than English are more likely than Caucasian native English speakers to use the Internet for investigating jobs and careers. We also look at other sources of information, but only with the Internet do we find significant effects for these groups.     

The Effect of Linguistic Distance and Country of Origin on Immigrant Language Skills: Application to Israel

This article is concerned with identifying, for the first time, the separate effects of linguistic distance (language of origin) and country of origin on the destination language proficiency of immigrants. The determinants of Hebrew language proficiency (fluency and literacy) among immigrants in Israel are studied using the 1972 Census of Israel and the Immigration Absorption (panel) Surveys conducted in the 1970s. Country of origin and language of origin matter for proficiency in Hebrew, especially in the longer term. By country of origin, those from North Africa are the least proficient. By language of origin, Arabic speakers are the most proficient, suggesting a small linguistic distance from Hebrew. Immigrants from English‐speaking origins are the least proficient in Hebrew. This may reflect a large linguistic distance or, more likely, the unique role of English as the international language, which reduces incentives for investments in Hebrew. Immigrants from dual‐language countries of origin are more proficient in Hebrew than those from single language origins.     

Immigrants' Language Skills and Visa Category1

This article is concerned with the determinants of English language proficiency among immigrants in a longitudinal survey for Australia. It focuses on both visa category and variables derived from an economic model of the determinants of destination‐language proficiency among immigrants. Skills‐tested and economic immigrants have the greatest proficiency shortly after immigration, followed by family‐based visa recipients, with refugees having the lowest proficiency. Other variables the same, these differences disappear by 3.5 years after immigration for speaking skills; and although they diminish, they persist longer for reading and writing skills. The variables generated from the model of destination‐language proficiency (such as schooling and age at migration) are, in part, predictions of visa category, but they are more important statistically for explaining proficiency.     

Hunger: The Silent Epidemic Among Asylum Seekers and Resettled Refugees

Refugees and asylum seekers face challenges after arriving in a host country. They carry the trauma that they may have experienced in their countries of origin, during fight, and in countries of asylum. Other stressors impact on their adjustment after arriving in the United States including basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. This is a retrospective review of data collected as part of a needs assessment by a program, which serves survivors of torture and refugee trauma. Asylum seekers (n=65) and refugees were compared (n=30). Asylum seekers were more apt to be from Africa (p<.001), need family reunification (p=.027), speak more languages (p<.001), suffer from political persecution (p<.001), move from place to place due to not having a permanent place to live (p=.031), and be unable to contribute to the rent (p<.001). Unadjusted, asylum seekers were also more likely than refugees to have gone to bed hungry in the previous two weeks (p<.001) or since arriving in the United States (p<.001). Refugees were more likely to be eating more food now than before feeing, and asylum seekers the opposite (p<.001). Being an asylum seeker made one 3.7 times more likely to suffer from food insecurity than being a refugee, and 5.3 times more likely to not have work authorization. Among asylum seekers, adjusting for gender, age, education, lack of permanent housing, English fluency, and self-reported health status, not having work authorization made one 5.6 times more likely to suffer from hunger. Independently, being a torture survivor made one 10.4 times more likely to suffer from hunger. Asylum seekers must wait 150 days before applying for asylum in the United States. For humanitarian reasons, mandatory-waiting periods for work authorization for asylum seekers should be eliminated.     

Household Context,Generational Status,and English Proficiency Among the Children of African Immigrants in the United States1

This study examines how household and parental-level determinants affect English proficiency among the children of African immigrants in the United States. Within immigrant families, the study finds that children’s level of proficiency has a stronger positive association with the proficiency of their mothers than with that of their fathers. Children’s level of English proficiency significantly increases as the number of other English-proficient children within their household increases. These impacts are stronger on the proficiency levels of first compared to second-generation children. Levels of proficiency are, however, lowest among children in families from Portuguese-speaking countries followed by their counterparts in families from countries where indigenous languages and Arabic are dominant. Although proficiency levels generally improve with increasing generational status, these improvements are smallest for children in families from Portuguese-speaking countries. Except for children in families from English-speaking countries, the largest improvements to proficiency with increasing generational status were observed among children in families from indigenous language backgrounds.     

Ethnicity and Effectively Maintained Inequality in BC Universities

As Canadian postsecondary systems have expanded they have become more institutionally differentiated. In British Columbia, distinctions are made between research‐intensive universities (RIUs) and teaching‐intensive universities with respect to resources, programming, and perceived prestige value. We employ an effectively maintained inequality framework to examine the role played by ethnicity in the competition for admission to RIUs. Our findings indicate that, together with socioeconomic status and gender, ethnicity is significantly related to RIU attendance rates. Ethnic group differences were particularly marked—Chinese and Korean speakers being most likely and Tagalog speakers least likely to attend an RIU. High school grade point averages and English language proficiency scores moderated only some of these differences, raising questions about the efficacy of competitive admissions policies based solely on academic merit.     

Determinants of English proficiency among Mexican migrants to the United States

"We replicate prior research into the determinants of English language proficiency among immigrants using a dataset that controls for potential biases stemming from selective emigration, omitted variables, and the mismeasurement of key constructs. In general, we reproduce the results of earlier work, leading us to conclude that despite inherent methodological problems, research based on cross-sectional censuses and surveys yields fundamentally accurate conclusions. In particular, we find unambiguous evidence that English proficiency rises with exposure to U.S. society, and we reaffirm earlier work showing a clear pattern of language assimilation among Mexican migrants to the United States."     

Ethnic intermarriage among immigrants: human capital and assortative mating

This paper analyzes the determinants of interethnic marriages by immigrants in the United States. The dependent variable is intermarriage across ethnic groups (on the basis of ancestry and country of birth) and the inclusion of the explanatory variables is justified by a simple rational choice economic model. A binomial logistic regression is estimated using data from the 1980 US Census, the last Census where post-migration marriages can be identified. Results show that the probability of intermarriage increases the longer a migrant resides in the U.S. and the younger the age at arrival. Both relationships can be attributable to the accumulation of US-specific human capital and an erosion of ethnic-specific human capital. Inter-ethnic marriages are more likely between individuals with similar education levels, providing evidence of positive assortative mating by education for immigrants. The construction of the “availability ratio” for potential spouses from one’s own group and group size where one lives using data from several Censuses provides a the measure of the marriage market. Intermarriage is lower the greater the availability ratio and the larger the size of one’s own group. Linguistic distance of the immigrant’s mother tongue from English indirectly measures the effect of English language proficiency at arrival and is found to be a significant negative predictor of intermarriage. Those who report multiple ancestries and who were previously married are more likely to intermarry.