Kholoud Abou Arida

Professor Campos

ETHS 2430

15 April 2019

Effects of Learning English on Mexican Americans

Mexican Americans who do not speak English have many social and economic

disadvantages that lower their quality of life. Non English speakers have the following

disadvantages while living in the United States:

1- Lower income and harder labour job.

2- lack of social and communicative benefits.

3- Lower quality of healthcare.

Those who immigrate to the United States usually do not come prepared for not only the

culture shock, but the language shock too. Within their first few encounters with native

speakers they quickly realize that life is isn’t as easy as it was in their homeland. In their

country of origin, they could go to the store, the library, a movie, or practically anywhere

without even thinking about the need to communicate. Moving to the a foreign country

where your native tongue is no longer the Lingua Franca creates many overwhelming tasks

and alters every facet of people’s lives. The first and possibly most difficult of these being

the financial crisis and lack of job opportunities that come from not speaking the language

used for business. Barry Chiswick, a well known economist, wrote in his economic journal

titled, “The Effect of Americanization on Earnings of Foreign-born Men”, about the

disadvantages having a low English proficiency on people’s income. He wrote, “In 2000,

the percentage of people in the United States who spoke a language other than English at
Kholoud Abou Arida

Professor Campos

ETHS 2430

15 April 2019

home was 18 percent, up from 14 percent in 1990, and 11 percent in 1980. Among people

who spoke a language other than English at home in 2000, 55 percent also spoke English

“very well,” 22 percent “well,” 16 percent “not well,” and 7 percent “not at all.” Among

people in the labor force in 2000, 16 percent reported they spoke a language other than

English. For many reasons the ability to speak English may affect a person’s ability to make

money. Difficulty speaking English can adversely affect the ability to get a job, get a

full-time job, and earn competitive salaries in the U.S. labor market. Employers may avoid

hiring otherwise qualified individuals who have difficulty communicating effectively.

People who have difficulty with English may feel uncomfortable applying for some jobs

that require proficiency in English.” As Chiswick wrote, it is apparent that English language

acquisition makes a large impact on the lives of the working class. Those who do not show a

high level mastery of the language will not only affect the employee's decision to apply for a

job, but if the employers see that the applicant cannot speak well, it will also play a big part

in their decisions as well.

To further prove this point, I had the opportunity to interview Luz F​élix, a Mexican

American who moved to the U.S. with very limited English skills and was forced to work heavy

labor jobs. She migrated with her family and immediately began to work in factory/packaging

companies where no English skills were required. When speaking with her she said, “The only jobs

where I could work were either at heavy labor jobs or places where all the other employees spoke

Spanish.” Her and her husband struggled to make ends meat, but as time went by she felt more and
 Kholoud Abou Arida

Professor Campos

ETHS 2430

15 April 2019

more the need to learn English. She began taking night classes to practice and within 3 to 4 years she

felt like it was time to move to a higher paying job. After obtaining these newly found English skills,

she got a job working as a secretary and later moved on to work as a waitress, positions that she was

incapable of doing before. The ability to speak English not only opened new doors in her

professional career, but also her personal life. She was now able to read books, watch movies, play

games, and talk to people in English. One of the most interesting changes that she experienced was

that she was then able to be more actively involved with her children’s education. Although most

public schools provide interpreters in meetings such as parent teacher conferences or school

activities, it was sometimes a hassle and made it harder and more inconvenient to contact the school.

Although these other benefits were of great help to increase her quality of life, the thing that had

the biggest effect on her life was being able to raise her annual income.

A study done to show the financial effects that learning English has on immigrants stated the

following:

Foreign-born residents age 18 or older are more likely than the U.S.-born to be in the

U.S. workforce, but they are younger, less educated, and have lower annual earnings. A recent

analysis of the 2002 CPS showed that the average age of a U.S.-born worker who worked

full-time at least part of 2001 was 41 years, and median earnings were $31,200. For foreign-born

residents, the average age was 39 years, and median earnings were $24,000. Foreign-born

residents who arrived in 1990 or later-half of the total-were much younger and had much lower

incomes: Their average age was 32 and median earnings $20,000. These low earnings reflect the

fact that 34 percent of these recent arrivals were not high school graduates. By contrast, 16
 Kholoud Abou Arida

Professor Campos

ETHS 2430

15 April 2019

percent of U.S.-born residents had not finished high school. Poor English skills are associated

with lower earnings in a high-tech society. Earlier immigrants could farm or work in factories or

build railroads without speaking English. But in today's service-dominated economy, the ability

to speak English is required for nearly all but the lowest-paying jobs. One study found that

among immigrant men who did not speak English at home, those who were not fluent in English

earned only about half as much as those who were.76 Another study concluded that those in the

United States "who speak English 'well' or 'very well' have 17 percent higher earnings than those

with less fluency."

This study gives a clear evidence that those who are born in the U.S. and have full

mastery of the English language have a huge increase in their salaries and thefore making

increasing their quality of life.

Another study shows a very interesting statistic specifically regarding how your level of

proficiency also affects how high of an income you will have.

Average earnings* of foreign-born men, ages 25-64, by English fluency:

- Speak only English at home: $37,694
Speaks English:
- Very well
Spanish-language origin: $26,155
- Well
Spanish-language origin: $19,653
- Not well
Spanish-language origin: $14,438
- Not at all
Spanish-language origin: $11,316
 Kholoud Abou Arida

Professor Campos

ETHS 2430

15 April 2019

In order to fix this huge challenge that many Mexican Americans face, I propose to offer

free English classes to all those who are willing to sign up. These classes would be offered by

volunteers from the community such as return missionaries who learned Spanish abroad or

college students who are studying Spanish. This way, it will not only benefit those who are

taking the classes, but also those who are teaching them. Returned missionaries can keep up their

Spanish skills and the college students can gain real life experience speaking with natives of the

language.

This plan would be highly effective due to its very low cost and relative no need for a

budget at all. These classes would be free to the public and offered by volunteers and

additionally would be offered at places like libraries or universities who would be willing to

donate a classroom to promote our cause.

After completing my second interview with Dillon Nordhoff, a return missionary from

Peru and a Spanish translation major, I realized how many people would be willing to donate

their time to help the Latino community. He was even able to give me a list of people that he

knew personally from school and friends that he thought would be interested in helping out.

The classes would be offered in twice a week in the evenings in convenience of both the

teachers and the students of these English classes. It would be something that would have to be

advertised to the latino community for those who are interested and for those who are willing to

help. In the case the funds are needed for any materials, I would speak with the “Latinos in

action” club who would be a great candidate for support.

 Kholoud Abou Arida

Professor Campos

ETHS 2430

15 April 2019

After all, we have to learn the language (English) no matter what obstacles we will face.

It will be worth it at the end. We always have to make sure that we find the right people who

will motivate us, and support us. This way we can learn more and more and enhance our life,

Even when we are in a new place. All we can do is start a new life, and take advantage of all the

opportunities we have. DO NOT GIVE UP, there is not a really options for us when we feel

weak but only to try harder. We should prove to the world that we are good people and we can

be responsible for our action. We have the power to change the world. YOU CAN DO IT, when

a task is really hard we say we can’t do it. However, there is nothing called we can’t do it, we all

have the mind and the body to be able to do different things. We have been giving our soul for a

reason. Let’s make sure we try our best to be successful.

Kholoud Abou Arida

Professor Campos

ETHS 2430

15 April 2019

Work citation

1- Chiswick, B., “The Effect of Americanization on Earnings of Foreign-born Men,” Journal

of Political Economy 86 (Oct 1978), 897-921.; Carliner, G., “Wages, Earnings, and Hours

of First, Second, and Third Generation American Males”, Economic Inquiry, 18(Jan. 1980),

87-102.; Borjas, G., “Assimilation, Changes in Cohort Quality, and the Earnings of

Immigrants,” Journal of Labor Economics 3(Oct. 1985), 463-489.

2 Reimers, CCW., “Labor Market Discrimination Against Hispanics and Black Men,”

Review of Economics and Statistics, November 1983, 65, 570-79; Greiner, G., “The Effect

of Language Characteristics on the Wages of Hispanic-American Males,” Journal of Human

Resources, Winter 1984, 19, 25-52.; McManus, W., Gould, W., and F. Welch, “Earnings of

Hispanic Men: The Role of Proficiency in the English Language,” Journal of Labor

Economics, April 1983, 1, 110-130.