Literacy, biliteracy and educational achievement among the Mexican-origin Population in the United States

This study used a biliteracy analysis of the National Chicano Survey (NCS) to profile literacy and educational characteristics of the Mexican-origin population. By differentiating “English” literacy from literacy generally, it is argued that a more realistic picture is presented of the so-called literacy crisis since most discussions of literacy at the national level confuse literacy with English literacy. Findings indicate that among groups such as Chicanos, biliteracy and Spanish literacy are resources which demonstrate associations with educational achievement, family income, employment, and increased political participation. The study also found that nonliteracy is associated with Mexican nativity and with age (those over 45 years of age are far less likely to be literate). Women were found to have higher levels of English literacy, biliteracy, and education; men were found to have higher levels of Spanish literacy. As expected, language background characteristics and language of literacy demonstrated strong associations. The study concluded that literacy resources in Spanish need to be recognized from the perspectives of language and educational policies.