The Arizona Report is published as a public service and is free of charge. The present study examines language acquisition by immigrants, and its findings contradict the myth that immigrants are not learning English.
Economic theory states that immigrants learn English as long as incentives exist to do so.
One such incentive is greater labor income, such as hourly wages. Studies consistently find a positive correlation between an immigrant's earnings and his English ability. Thus, while there are economic incentives to learning English, the fact remains that learning English is not a costless endeavor. Furthermore, English is not a unidimensional characteristic. English proficiency encompasses such abilities as speaking, understanding, reading, and writing.