LESLLA Learners in the United States: A Portrait in Census Data, 1900-2015

Abstract

LESLLA adults bring little literacy or formal education to their host country second language acquisition and assimilation contexts. Their invisibility and marginality is perpetuated by a persistent lack of solid data and research. This paper aims to help researchers, advocates and practitioners paint and utilize a more comprehensive evidence-based portrait of adult LESLLA adults and their needs using freely available census data. The estimated number of LESLLA adults in the United States in 1900 is slightly over a half million and has increased to over two million by 2015. Although most LESLLA immigrants appear to have at least partially integrated/assimilated into the United States within 5 to 10 years after arrival, a substantial number have not. The paper suggests ways in which future research, advocacy and policymaking can use the census data to better understand and support the growing LESLLA population in the United States.