Gilroy
– Young immigrants who come to California learn English faster
than those who come here at a later age, a recently released study
found, but Gilroy educators say many other factors help to
determine those students’ ultimate success.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Young immigrants who come to California learn English faster than those who come here at a later age, a recently released study found, but Gilroy educators say many other factors help to determine those students’ ultimate success.
Hispanic youth who enroll in California schools at an early age develop better English language skills, high school graduation rates and more earning potential when they enter the workforce, according to the study released last month by the Public Policy Institute of California.
The study of 11,000 immigrant youths showed Hispanics who came to the U.S. at a young age assimilated quickly and demonstrated academic and English fluency levels similar to native-born Hispanic children.
The study also found those immigrants who came in their teens face many more problems.
Of those who immigrated after the age of 10, only 13 percent had attended college. Of those who arrived earlier, 33 percent had attended college, compared to 41 percent of native-born Hispanic youths.
While the study’s findings may apply across a broad spectrum, English Language Learners Administrator Martha Martinez said there are a couple other factors that clearly affect Spanish-speaking students’ success in Gilroy Unified School District.
“One of the biggest variables that plays into that is their amount of schooling in their home country,” she said. “What we do see is students who come with a higher level of education into this school district can be successful in terms of being integrated into the language and into their schooling. There just is more success rate, the higher the education level they come in at.”
Last year, 2,815 of GUSD’s 9,691 enrolled students were designated as English language learners, although that does not indicate whether they were born in the U.S.
Martinez said an immigrant student’s level of education does not necessarily coincide with his or her age. Even if they have been enrolled in school, their English abilities already vary greatly, she added.
Especially in Latin countries, she noted, if students have had a higher level of education and more English from an early age, they are not necessarily skilled at speaking the language, but tend to better understand and comprehend the language in written form, thus making it easier for them to assimilate.
“Also, parent (education) has a lot to do with their success,” Martinez said.
Particularly in later grades, when students are not longer simply learning English but are using it academically, a student’s support at home becomes more important.
“What we’re seeing here in Gilroy is – definitely with a greater emphasis on structured English immersion – is that our students are making initial progress of learning the language,” Martinez said. “And the bigger question is the continued success of the acquired academic English level that they’re able to maintain or sustain over time.”
The Associated Press Contributed to this report.
