The English-skill acquisition of Hispanic Americans during the 1980s

Objective. Although various economic and social factors increased the incen tives for limited-English-proficient (LEP) populations to acquire English f luency in the 1980s, little empirical work explores whether LEP individuals reacted to these growing incentives by enhancing their English skills duri ng this rime. Methods. We address this research void by analyzing changes i n the English proficiency of Hispanic adults, using synthetic cohorts from the 1980 and 1990 Public Use Microdata Samples. Results. Our results show t hat many Hispanics invested in additional English fluency during the 1980s. Socioeconomic characteristics also appear to influence the accumulation of English skills; the relative effects of these characteristics correspond t o the neoclassical reasoning of weighing the marginal costs and marginal be nefits associated with skill investment. Conclusions. These findings indica te the potential for enhanced socioeconomic outcomes for Hispanics, and sho uld ease some concern about the linguistic polarization of American society .