Early Immigrants and English Language Learning

The Immigrant Experience Then and Now

There is good evidence that immigrants of the past, for example, from the early 20th or late 19th century, did not learn English quickly. In fact, many never learned it at all. Most immigrants survived and even prospered because their livelihoods often did not require literacy in English or even a strong command of the spoken language. Most immigrants lived and worked in rural areas or in urban enclaves where English was not an absolute necessity. Generally, they engaged in occupations in which acquiring a thorough knowledge of the language could occur at a more leisurely pace than what is needed today. On average, the learning of English must be done much more rapidly today. Education requirements for better employment outside the ethnic neighborhood, together with a powerful youth culture played out in English, and greater attention being focused more-effective teaching methods make the rapid learning of English a more credible scenario than its rejection or deferral.

In ethnic neighborhoods across the country, older immigrants have always used their native languages at the hearth and among friends and neighbors who belonged to the same ethnic groups. Some adults never learned English, although their children and grandchildren learned the language as a school subject. Ethnic neighborhoods are not very different today.

A stroll through Chinatown in San Francisco, 18th Street in Chicago, or the Magnolia community in Houston makes this quite clear. If it is possible for certain groups in 21st-century America to live without much contact with English-speaking Americans, we can only imagine what the situation may have been at the turn of the 20th century, when the proportion of immigrants to natives was even higher than it is today.

A study conducted by University of California professor Lily Wong Fillmore reviewed family cases in which a language gap had developed between young children and older members of the family. Among the former, only English was used, while among the older members, the home language was the only language spoken. This linguistic divide within families interferes with normal processes of intergenerational communication. It deprives children of the wit and wisdom that is often gifted by the oldest members of the family to the youngest. In addition, it makes it more difficult for the whole family to be involved in the school experiences of the young. Through bilingual education, these problems can be greatly reduced or eliminated.

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