Language incorporation across generations among Mexicans in the U.S. and Turks in Germany.

There is an often-expressed opinion that as more immigrants arrive in traditional immigration countries such as the U.S., their assimilation rates are slowing, particularly as revealed in their fluency in the language of their host country and in the frequency of use of their native tongue. This opinion often serves to support major educational and language policies that have broad implications for all immigrants. Using data from the 1989 German SOEP panel and the 1989/90 combined PSID/Latino National Political Survey, this paper will compare the self-report data on language use of Turkish 17-65 year-old immigrants in Germany and Mexican immigrants in the U.S. distinguished by generational status measured by birthplace/length of residence as well as age at and period of immigration. Findings indicate similarities in language acquisition of more recent immigrants to the U.S. and Germany despite differences in the background of immigrants, the circumstances of their migration and their host societies policies and reception environment. An exception are the pre-1974 "guestworker" immigrants and the 1.5 generation offspring. Their language proficiency lags behind because they arrived at a time and in a situation where neither the host society nor the immigrants considered long-term immigration as a reality. Other, serious obstacles for host language acquisition may exist in an immigrant situation with large protective enclaves/niches or strong tendencies toward ethnoracial segregation/separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]