Parental Use of Destination Language at Home and Academic Achievement of Immigrant-Origin Children

Stefano Cellini , Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute
Matthijs Kalmijn, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute
Frank van Tubergen, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute

This study examines how family language practices influence the educational outcomes of children of immigrants in the Netherlands, focusing on both parent–child and interparental communication. While prior research has linked immigrant children’s academic achievement to language proficiency or home language use, it has rarely captured the influence of active use of language by the parents. Using newly linked survey and administrative data, we construct a detailed measure of Dutch language use with children and partners, distinguishing families by their intensity and consistency of L2 use. Educational outcomes are assessed through standardized test scores at the end of primary school (age 12) and higher-education enrollment at age 18. Results show that speaking Dutch with children is positively associated with literacy, but not mathematics performance, suggesting that language exposure primarily enhances domain-specific verbal skills. Families where Dutch is used frequently—but not exclusively—achieve the most favorable outcomes, consistent with partial support for a bilingual advantage. Mediation analyses further reveal that early test performance largely accounts for the link between home language use and later educational attainment, highlighting the enduring impact of early linguistic environments. Overall, the findings demonstrate that complete linguistic assimilation is not necessary for educational success. Balanced bilingual exposure within immigrant families may combine the linguistic advantages of majority-language proficiency with the cognitive and cultural resources of heritage-language maintenance. The study contributes to theories of assimilation and bilingualism by identifying intra-household language practices as a critical, yet often overlooked, mechanism shaping educational inequality among the second generation.

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 Presented in Session 111. Migrant Populations and Assimilation over Generations