Examining the relationship between Latinos’ English proficiency, educational degree, language preferences, and their perceptions on the Americans
Author(s)
Date
2020Source Title
Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies
Print ISSN
1305-578X
Publisher
Selcuk University
Volume
16
Issue
1
Pages
290 - 305
Language
English
Type
ArticleItem Usage Stats
126
views
views
76
downloads
downloads
Abstract
Using data from the 2018 National Survey of Latinos that was conducted by The Pew Hispanic Center/Kaiser
Family Foundation, the researcher in the present study reports on the perceptions of Latinos on English and their
educational degrees as well as their language preferences. This non-experimental quantitative study is considered
one of the first ones focusing on Latinos’ language preferences conducted all over the United States. A highly
randomly stratified 2,288 Latino adults (1,041 males and 1,091 females) who are 18 years old or older identified
themselves as Latinos in this study. These participants were from 48 states in total. The results indicated that there
was a positive relationship between the last degree attended and participants’ English proficiency; however, there
was no association between participants’ preference of English over Spanish and their perceptions on the
friendliness/closeness of American individuals. The implications and future direction are recommended at the end
of the study based on these results.