Who Doesn't Value English? Debunking Myths About Mexican Immigrants' Attitudes Toward the English Language

Julie A. Dowling, Christopher G. Ellison, David L. Leal

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Objective: In recent years, immigration has become a central focus of political scrutiny. Much of the negativity directed toward the largely Mexican immigrant population asserts that they do not wish to learn English and acclimate to the dominant culture of the United States. Very little research, however, has explored how Mexican immigrants or Mexican Americans assess the value of English proficiency. Methods: Utilizing the Survey of Texas Adults, we examine attitudes regarding the importance of English. We explore the attitudes of Mexican-origin persons compared to other racial/ethnic groups, as well as explore within-group differences based on citizenship, nativity, and language use. Results: Our findings reveal the high importance that Spanish speakers, as well as many non-U.S. citizen Mexican immigrants, place on English proficiency. Furthermore, the results indicate that Spanish speakers are actually most likely to stress the importance of English. Conclusions: Our research contradicts accounts of the largely Spanish-speaking Mexican immigrant population as not valuing the English language. In so doing, our work contributes to larger scholarly efforts to better understand immigrants in general and Mexican immigrants in particular.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)356-378
Number of pages23
JournalSocial Science Quarterly
Volume93
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2012

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Social Sciences

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