Who Doesn't Value<scp>E</scp>nglish? Debunking Myths About<scp>M</scp>exican Immigrants’ Attitudes Toward the<scp>E</scp>nglish Language^*

Abstract

Objective In recent years, immigration has become a central focus of political scrutiny. Much of the negativity directed toward the largely M exican immigrant population asserts that they do not wish to learn E nglish and acclimate to the dominant culture of the U nited S tates. Very little research, however, has explored how M exican immigrants or M exican A mericans assess the value of E nglish proficiency. Methods Utilizing the Survey of T exas Adults, we examine attitudes regarding the importance of E nglish. We explore the attitudes of M exican‐origin persons compared to other racial/ethnic groups, as well as explore within‐group differences based on citizenship, nativity, and language use. Results Our findings reveal the high importance that S panish speakers, as well as many non‐ U . S . citizen M exican immigrants, place on E nglish proficiency. Furthermore, the results indicate that S panish speakers are actually most likely to stress the importance of E nglish. Conclusions Our research contradicts accounts of the largely S panish‐speaking M exican immigrant population as not valuing the E nglish language. In so doing, our work contributes to larger scholarly efforts to better understand immigrants in general and M exican immigrants in particular.