The economic value of bilingualism in the United States

Given that bilingual education has been under assault for most of its modern existence in the United States, many bilingual educators have acquiesced to transitional bilingual education: the use of the primary language only until English is firmly established. While this placated some critics, the research now demonstrates that this is not in the best interest of the students. Although past research has found no real economic benefit for bilinguals in the U.S. labor market, the new research reviewed here comes to the opposite conclusion: Full literacy in another language brings substantial economic benefit. Moreover, the failure to nurture these linguistic skills in the children of immigrants exacts a cost to the earnings of these potentially bilingual/biliterate students.