Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees - GCIR

This piece offers an in-depth look at pressing language barriers facing the estimated 2.23 million adults in this country who are Limited English Proficient (LEP)—and how best to solve them. It provides background information about issues concerning English speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), identifies promising program practices, and highlights policy priorities for increasing adult English learners’ access to high-quality ESOL courses.

This publication provides national- and state-level data from the 2000 Census on who speaks English and who does not, broken down by type of household, age of householder, education, and income.

English language ability is correlated with a worker's wages, and limited English proficient (LEP) workers who improve their communications abilities by acquiring better English skills are shown to have greater economic mobility.  These notes, from a presentation in Denver, provide an overview of recent research on the economics of language and looks at the potential implications for LEP workers.

This study draws lessons for other states from the program and policy landscape of immigrant education in California, which is home to 40 percent of the nation’s ELLs. It assesses the national controversy surrounding “bilingual” versus English-only education.

This study examines the linguistic assimilation of children of immigrants, comparing the historical experience with the current trends of these populations.  It finds that since 1960, English is almost universally accepted by the children and grandchildren of immigrants, and that by the third generation, only a minority in any group maintains bilingualism.

English is almost universally accepted by the children and grandchildren of the immigrants who have come to the US in great numbers since the 1960s, which means these children have high levels of linguistic assimilation. Moreover, by the third generation (grandchildren of immigrants), only a minority in any group maintains bilingualism.

This report examines the discrepancy between California's goal of providing free English classes and the reality that the current funding system for providing classes is about 30 years out of date. During those 30 years, the state's immigrant population has exploded. The gap between goal and reality has created an excessive financial burden on some local school districts--which provide most of the state's English as a Second Language (ESL) classes--and may be forcing other districts to turn away immigrants who want to learn English.

Dual-language programs for children age three to eight may be better than English-only programs for the cognitive, academic, social, and cultural development of children who speak a language other than English at home.

Dual-language programs for children aged three to eight may be better than English-only programs for the cognitive, academic, social, and cultural development of children who speak a language other than English at home.

Creating a Formula for Success: Why English Language Learner Students Are Dropping Out of School, and How to Increase Graduation Rates

The study identifies who the limited English speakers in the United States are, and explains how they differ from immigrants in general and why TANF and WIA providers should be concerned about them. The author makes these suggestions: bilingual staff should be hired when possible; English language, literacy and numeracy training should be integrated with job training; and that existing education and training programs be adapted to include limited English speakers.

This paper reviews data on how immigrants fare under the work-focused, time-limited Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. It also discusses policy implications of research showing that many immigrants who remain on welfare rolls have significant barriers to employment, including limited proficiency in English and low skill levels.

Analyzes 2000 Census data on languages spoken at home by school-age children in newcomer families, and finds that English is almost universally accepted by the children and grandchildren of the immigrants who have come to the United States in great numbers since the 1960s, similar to earlier generations of immigrants.

More than eight million working-age adults in the United States—5 percent of all adults—speak English poorly or do not speak it at all. Immigrant populations, many of them limited English proficient, are going to be essential for the growth of the U.S. workforce in the years to come. This study recommends improving the resources for language and job training available to LEP populations.

This report, part of a series that presents population and housing data collected in the 2000 Census, Ppresents data on language spoken at home and the ability of people ages five and over to speak English. I t describes population distributions and characteristics for the United States, as well as regions, states, counties, and selected places with populations of 100,000 or more.

This paper applies the theoretical literature on nonparametric bounds on treatment effects to the estimation of how limited English proficiency (LEP) affects wages and employment opportunities for Hispanic workers in the U.S. The author stresses the interactions between LEP and education, occupation, and immigration status.