Language shift and maintenance among the children of immigrants in the U.S.: Evidence in the Census for Spanish speakers and other language minorities

For over thirty years, research on Spanish in the U.S. has demonstrated an inexorable loss of the language among Spanish speaking populations. This study shows, however, that analyses of 1980, 1990, and 2000 U.S. Census data, using an innovative approach known as a synthetic cohort analysis, reveal a high degree of transmission of Spanish from first generation to second generation speakers. For the purpose of tracking reported language use of individuals starting at ages 5–7 and ending at ages 15–17, data from the Integrated Public Microdata Series are used here to create two simulated longitudinal samples of Spanish speakers over a ten-year period. English language acquisition is also examined, and the results indicate that second generation speakers are bilingual, with a high degree of control of both Spanish and English.