English Literacy of Foreign-Born Adults in the United States: 2003. Issue Brief

摘要

Learning to read and write in the English language is a challenge faced by numerous foreign-born adults who arrive in the United States each year. Since 1970, the foreign-born population living in the United States has increased both in number and as a percentage share of the entire population. This growth contributes to continued interest in how well foreign-born adults use written information to function in society and the factors associated with their literacy. Although prior studies have examined adult literacy in the United States by a variety of background characteristics, no national-level research has focused specifically on the literacy abilities of the foreign born adult population using the most recent data. This Issue Brief draws on data from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) to explore the English literacy of foreign-born adults living in households in the United States. The brief presents the English literacy scores of foreign-born adults age 16 and older in 2003 by race/ethnicity, age of arrival in the United States, years spent in the United States, highest level of educational attainment, and language spoken before starting school.