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Everybody’s talkin’ at me: levels of majority language acquisition by minority language speakers

Author

Listed:
  • William A. Brock

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison
    University of Missouri-Columbia)

  • Bo Chen

    (Southern Methodist University)

  • Steven N. Durlauf

    (University of Chicago)

  • Shlomo Weber

    (Southern Methodist University)

Abstract

Immigrants in economies with a dominant native language exhibit substantial heterogeneities in language acquisition of the majority language. We model partial language acquisition as an equilibrium phenomenon. We consider an environment where heterogeneous agents from various minority groups choose whether to acquire a majority language fully, partially, or not at all, with varying communicative benefits and costs. We provide an equilibrium characterization of language acquisition and demonstrate that partial acquisition can arise as an equilibrium behavior. We also show that a language equilibrium may exhibit insufficient learning relative to the social optimum. Finally, we formulate a deterministic language learning dynamic process and find that our language equilibrium arises in the long run under suitable conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • William A. Brock & Bo Chen & Steven N. Durlauf & Shlomo Weber, 2025. "Everybody’s talkin’ at me: levels of majority language acquisition by minority language speakers," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 79(3), pages 759-807, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:joecth:v:79:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s00199-024-01602-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s00199-024-01602-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Communicative benefits; Language acquisition; Language policy; Linguistic equilibrium; Partial learning;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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