TAILIEUCHUNG - Language Use and English-Speaking Ability
The ability to commu-nicate with govern-ment and private serv-ice providers, schools,businesses, emergencypersonnel, and manyother people in theUnited States depends greatly on the ability to speak Census 2000, as in the two previous censuses,the . Census Bureau asked people aged and over if they spokea language other than English at the mil- lion people aged 5 andover, million (18 percent) spoke a language other than English at home. | Language Use and English-Speaking Ability: 2000 Issued October 2003 Census 2000 Brief C2KBR-29 The ability to commu- By Hyon B. Shin nicate with govern- Figure 1. Reproduction of the Questions on with ment and private serv- Rosalind Bruno Language From Census 2000 ice providers, schools, businesses, emergency personnel, and many 11 a. Does this person speak a language other than English at home? other people in the United States depends Yes greatly on the ability to No Skip to 12 1 speak English. In b. What is this language? Census 2000, as in the two previous censuses, the . Census Bureau (For example: Korean, Italian, Spanish, Vietnamese) asked people aged 5 and over if they spoke c. How well does this person speak English? a language other than Very well English at home. Well Among the mil- Not well lion people aged 5 and Not at all over, million (18 percent) spoke a Source: . Census Bureau, Census 2000 questionnaire. language other than English at home. This report, part of a series that presents 2000. Various questions on language population and housing data collected in were asked in the censuses from 1890 to Census 2000, presents data on language 1970, including a question on “mother spoken at home and the ability to speak tongue” (the language spoken in the per- English of people aged 5 and over. It son’s home when he or she was a child). describes population distributions and The first language question in Census characteristics for the United States, 2000 asked respondents whether they including regions, states, counties, and spoke a language other than English at selected places with populations of home. Those who responded “Yes” to 100,000 or more. Question 11a were asked what language The questions illustrated in Figure 1 were they spoke. The write-in answers to asked in the census in 1980, 1990, and Question 11b (specific language spoken) were optically scanned and coded. Although linguists recognize several 1 The text of this report
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