The Language Gap Between First And Second Generation Immigrants

For more than 300 years, immigrants from every corner of the globe have settled in America, creating the most diverse and heterogeneous nation on Earth. Though immigrants have given much to the country, their process of changing from their homeland to the new land has never been easy. To immigrate does not only mean to come and live in a country after leaving your own country, but it also means to deal with many new and unfamiliar situations, social backgrounds, cultures, and mainly with the acquisition and master of a new language. This often causes mixed emotions, frustration, awkward feelings, and other conflicts. In Richard Rodriguez’s essay “Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, the author

The United States has been a host to a wide diaspora of people. Immigrants have had to transition from their familiar land to a new-fashioned foreign land that they must consider home. They bring with them the essence of their initial homeland such as customs, traditions and beliefs that inadvertently change the dynamics of culture within the United States. As a result the United States is an extremely culturally diverse nation. The continual changes or accretions that Americans encounter have always been a controversial topic depending on the experiences of individuals and communities that have immigrant populations. This essay will critically explore

A common joke says “What do you call someone who speaks two languages?” in which the person being asked the question would usually respond with “bilingual.” It goes on to ask about those who speak three or four languages, but then there is a kicker. “What does one call someone who only speaks one language?” to which the punch line is “an American.” According to the 2006 General Social Survey, only 25 percent of American adults are fluent in a foreign language, while only 7 percent cite the source of this education to formal schooling (Devlin 1). Large amounts of evidence point to the benefits of being multilingual. Although the United States has a few laws that help immigrants assimilate through dual language programs, there is little to be

It is expected that ultimately there will be a loss of ethnic distinctiveness for immigrants in the U.S., meaning the lack of attachment to the country of origin. (Golash-Boza, 2006) It is argued that all ethnic distinctiveness will no longer exist by the seventh or eighth generations. Before exploring the influence of foreign born vs. U.S. born parents on their children’s cultural assimilation; the different theories of assimilation will be explored. The idea of Assimilation came about in the early 20th century. (Golash-Boza, 2006) Assimilation is surrounded by two theories, the first that all immigrants will assimilate sooner or later and that the generational status of the individual is one of the main factors in determining the

In the section of “Immigration and Academics” Dr. Lingxin Hao, the study’s lead author look over first, second and third generation and their outcomes in their outcomes on education, social and behavioral outcomes. This journal is relevant because it shows the different outcomes of all generations who somehow came from immigrant descendant and how it slowly changes from generation to another.

Immigrant groups take refuge in America in hope of starting a better life for themselves and their ongoing generations. They take on the belief that upon coming to America, they will be presented by the riches and freedom granted by the “American Dream”. However, these opportunities are not easily achieved. Many immigrant families are challenged with the initial obstacles of having to adapt to the new languages and the customs of their environment. For example, without the basic knowledge of the standard English language, immigrants will not be able to apply for a majority of the jobs available. This puts immigrant parents at disadvantages because then they will not be able to provide the sufficient funds needed for allowing their children

First generation immigrants face many issues while they are in the public education system, but their issues are greater when they decide to continue their schooling. The access to higher education for first generation immigrants is limited. The biggest concern for them is the affordability of post secondary education. Immigrants

In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and

The study states that the second generation immigrants are an essential part of the Canadian society, however they have not been studied enough. Immigration was resurging and thus it is critical that the impact of the second generation immigrants be studied at length. Many studies have been done regarding the economic impact that second generation immigrants have on Canada, however their educational attainment has been ignored. In general, it can be stated that second generation immigrants fare much better in terms of education attainment than native of Canada, this difference can be partly explained by the second generation’s mother tongue, however there is still a humongous difference that can be clearly seen. By the age of 13, it has been observed that immigrant children are at the same educational level or higher than those that are Canadian natives. This can be explained by immigrant parents’ higher expectations when it comes to their children’s education and their perspective when it comes to education. The data that was collected is from Statistics Canada and it looks at second generation immigrants from ages 25-65, and the data encompassed about 11,983 males. Second generation immigrants have a lower high school drop out rate, than natives and tend to go to post secondary institutions, such as colleges and universities, rather than going straight to work, without a degree. This study shows that the Canadian immigration system has been able to favorably select immigrants whose children fare the same or much better than their native Canadian counterparts. The study concludes that second generation immigrants are able to keep up with the native Canadians, by the age of 13 and tend to do even better than these Canadians. This can be explained by the second generation immigrants’ willingness to work hard in order to succeed

Many second generation minorities from immigrant parents are driven subconsciously to conform to new culture and social norms. For foreign born parents and native born children integrating the two cultures they inhabit brings about different obstacles and experiences. In Jhumpa’s “The Namesake” the protagonist Gogol is a native born American with foreign born parents. The difference with birth location plays an important role in assimilating to a new society in a new geography. The difficulty for parents is the fact that they’ve spent a decent amount of time accustomed to a new geography, language, culture and society which makes it difficult to feel comfortable when all of that changes. For Gogol the difficulty only lies with the cultural norms imposed by his parent’s and the culture and social norms that are constantly presented in the new society.

Higher expectations by first-generation immigrant parents also involve as intergenerational conflict in forming the American identity. In the article “Intergenerational

The question of identity is always a difficult one for those living in a culture or group, yet belonging to another. This difficulty frequently remains in the mind of most immigrants, especially the second generations who were born in a country other than their parents. Younger generations feel as if they are forced to change to fit the social standards despite previous culture or group. Furthermore those who wish to adopt a new identity of a group or culture haven't yet been fully accepted by original members due to their former identity.

Parents have their beliefs and practices when rearing their children, they share their customs and beliefs with their families to guide and support their families. Parents hope to share their practices from generation to generation, however when immigrants relocate other to countries they adapt to new ways of living (Two Parents, 2009). Immigrants relocate to provide their families with financial stability and better education. Some immigrants face obstacles when they relocate to North America, such as language barriers, discipline issues, and little involvement in their child’s education. Many of the immigrants first language is not English, their language barrier may hinder them from communicating with employers and classroom educators

Several literatures argue that a language barrier is a major problem when non-English speaking immigrants access health services in the UK. It is a common problem among Eastern Europeans and other immigrants, however the majority of the literature considers language barrier in relation to immigrants as a homogenous group. The following paragraphs will discuss the issue of language barrier for immigrants and then the specific applications of the issue for Eastern Europeans and consider recommendations to improve services for non-English speakers.

Sociologists typically assume that immigrants' acquisition of English as a second language follows the opportunities and motivations to become proficient in English, while many linguists argue that second language acquisition may be governed by maturational constraints, possibly biologically based, that are tied to the age at onset of language learning. In this article, I use U.S. census data to investigate the relationship between age at onset of second language learning and levels of English language proficiency among foreign-born adults in the United States. The overarching conclusion is that proficiency in a second language among adults is strongly related to age at immigration. Part of that relationship is attributable to social and demo-graphic considerations tied to age at entry into a new country, and part may be attributable to maturational constraints.( Age at immigration acquisition of language, English as second language, second language proficiency)* When investigating second language (L2) acquisition among immigrants, sociologists and economists often rely on "exposure" or "human capital" frame-works, in which L2 learning is prompted by opportunities and motivations to become proficient in English. Much of this research shows that social and demo-graphic factors, such as length of residence in the U.S. and educational attainment, strongly predict levels of proficiency in English among foreign-born adults. Linguists, by contrast, start from the premise that