News & Media
Education Study Finds 11 Million U.S. Adults Lack Simple English Skills
English literacy levels for Spanish speakers have decreased over last 10 years
December 21, 2005
A new study released by the U.S. Department of Education found that 11 million Americans age 16 and older cannot understand simple English, with declining rates of English literacy noted among native Spanish speakers. The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) revealed that while literacy scores increased for almost every segment of the population since 1992, scores for Hispanics and native Spanish speakers slid. Under NAAL guidelines, the average score for native Spanish speakers slipped from the “basic” level to the “below basic” level.“How low will English literacy levels have to drop before our elected officials focus on the problem?” asked Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of U.S. English, Inc. “If childhood immunization rates or high school graduation rates suffered as precipitous a decline, there would be a national uproar. Unfortunately, it appears as if many politicians do not recognize falling English literacy rates among Spanish speakers as a serious problem.” The NAAL report defined literacy on three different scales – prose (using information from continuous texts), document (using information from non-continuous texts) and quantitative (performing computations), all graded on a 500-point scale. While the average prose literacy score for the general population was virtually unchanged from 1992, the average score among Hispanics dipped 18 points. For document literacy, the general score was identical to 1992, though the Hispanic average slid 14 points from a decade earlier. Average scores among Asian/Pacific Islanders, on the other hand, rose 16 and 13 points, respectively. Literacy levels by language spoken before starting school also showed steep declines. While gains in prose and document literacy were made by speakers of “English and Spanish,” “English and other language,” and “other language,” the average scores of Spanish speakers showed steep drops. Average prose literacy scores for Spanish speakers dipped 17 points, even as scores for those who spoke English and Spanish before starting school rose seven points and scores for speakers of other languages increased by 10 points. Document literacy scores among Spanish speakers also fell by 17 points while gains were made by other subgroups. “If our elected leaders are truly dedicated to doing what is best for the nation and its people, they will take steps to ensure that we can all speak with and understand one another in this nation’s common language, English,” continued Mujica. “As this study demonstrates, multilingual government and the separation of people along language lines have only hindered our collective growth. If we do not begin promoting the importance of English instruction for immigrants immediately, declining literacy rates may be the least of our worries in another decade.” U.S. English, Inc. is the nation's oldest and largest non-partisan citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. English, Inc. (www.usenglish.org) now has more than 1.8 million members.
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