Immigrants' language skills and visa category

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-test...

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Main Authors: Chiswick, B., Lee, Y., Miller, Paul
Format: Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2006
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43617
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author Chiswick, B.
Lee, Y.
Miller, Paul
author_facet Chiswick, B.
Lee, Y.
Miller, Paul
author_sort Chiswick, B.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description 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.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-436172018-03-29T09:07:22Z Immigrants' language skills and visa category Chiswick, B. Lee, Y. Miller, Paul 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. 2006 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43617 10.1111/j.1747-7379.2006.00023.x Wiley-Blackwell restricted
spellingShingle Chiswick, B.
Lee, Y.
Miller, Paul
Immigrants' language skills and visa category
title Immigrants' language skills and visa category
title_full Immigrants' language skills and visa category
title_fullStr Immigrants' language skills and visa category
title_full_unstemmed Immigrants' language skills and visa category
title_short Immigrants' language skills and visa category
title_sort immigrants' language skills and visa category
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43617