Ethnic enclaves tend to weaken language proficiency of immigrants - education strengthens it

Abstract

"Proficiency of the German language is one of the key factors affecting labour market performance in Germany. Ethnic enclaves tend to reduce the German language proficiency, but only to a limited extend if we consider that immigrants with a relatively weak knowledge of the German language select themselves into neighbourhoods with a high concentration of immigrants of the same ethnic origin. In contrast, higher education levels are strongly correlated with higher levels of German language proficiency." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Danzer, A. & Yaman, F. (2010): Immigranten in Deutschland: Ethnische Enklaven schwächen die Sprachkompetenz, mehr Bildung stärkt sie. (IAB-Kurzbericht 17/2010), Nürnberg, 8 p.