Language proficiency and achievements of immigrants in Spain

The hypothesis according to which knowing the language of the host society has a positive influence on the integration of immigrants has a strong theoretical support and a large research literature. From the theoretical point of view that considers language as a component of human capital, research has confirmed that, other things being equal, the language proficiency –native or acquired-, of the destination country grants the immigrant a potential advantage that should be reflected in her social integration and her success in the labor market. Spain has been during most of the past decade the main destination of migration into Europe. Almost half of this immigration comes from Spanish America and thus belongs to the community of Spanish language. The recency of migration in Spain and the lack of data on linguistic proficiency have led research on this matter to be very limited so far. Two recent available statistical sources can repair some of these limitations: The National Immigrant Survey 2007 and the special module of the 2008 Labor Force Survey on the situation of immigrants and their children in the labor market.
In this paper we study, first, what are the different linguistic profiles of immigrants and how the process of knowledge of Spanish in the main groups who have another mother tongue. In the second section the influence of Spanish skills on labor market integration is discussed looking at two dimensions: the achievement of employment and mobility to skilled jobs. Finally, the relationship between language proficiency and educational attainment of second generation immigrants is explored.