---
_id: '61887'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Language proficiency is crucial for migrants’ social position in the labour
    market and therefore plays a key role in the (re-)production of social inequalities
    in modern societies. There are different ways of capturing language skills in
    quantitative studies. However, it is important to question the extent to which
    existing language measures mirror migrants’ realities and relevant linguistic
    everyday life practices. In our paper, we contribute to this question by disentangling
    various measures of language proficiency. We use a large sample of migrants in
    Germany (GSOEP) that contains numerous language measures. We conduct detailed
    quantitative analyses on how various language variables influence migrants’ social
    position, by which we mean migrants’ socioeconomic status (as measured by ISEI).
    The ISEI is mainly based on occupation, but also on education and income. Our
    findings indicate that especially the self-assessed German speaking proficiency
    is an important and parsimonious predictor for migrants’ social position in Germany.
author:
- first_name: Isabell
  full_name: Diekmann, Isabell
  id: '119325'
  last_name: Diekmann
- first_name: Joanna Jadwiga
  full_name: Fröhlich, Joanna Jadwiga
  last_name: Fröhlich
citation:
  ama: Diekmann I, Fröhlich JJ. How Can Migrants’ Language Proficiency Be Measured?
    A Discussion of Opportunities and Challenges When Studying the Impact of Language
    Skills on Social Position . <i>Migration Letters</i>. 2020;17(5):695–704. doi:<a
    href="https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v17i5.803">10.33182/ml.v17i5.803</a>
  apa: Diekmann, I., &#38; Fröhlich, J. J. (2020). How Can Migrants’ Language Proficiency
    Be Measured? A Discussion of Opportunities and Challenges When Studying the Impact
    of Language Skills on Social Position . <i>Migration Letters</i>, <i>17</i>(5),
    695–704. <a href="https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v17i5.803">https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v17i5.803</a>
  bibtex: '@article{Diekmann_Fröhlich_2020, title={How Can Migrants’ Language Proficiency
    Be Measured? A Discussion of Opportunities and Challenges When Studying the Impact
    of Language Skills on Social Position }, volume={17}, DOI={<a href="https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v17i5.803">10.33182/ml.v17i5.803</a>},
    number={5}, journal={Migration Letters}, publisher={Transnational Press London},
    author={Diekmann, Isabell and Fröhlich, Joanna Jadwiga}, year={2020}, pages={695–704}
    }'
  chicago: 'Diekmann, Isabell, and Joanna Jadwiga Fröhlich. “How Can Migrants’ Language
    Proficiency Be Measured? A Discussion of Opportunities and Challenges When Studying
    the Impact of Language Skills on Social Position .” <i>Migration Letters</i> 17,
    no. 5 (2020): 695–704. <a href="https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v17i5.803">https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v17i5.803</a>.'
  ieee: 'I. Diekmann and J. J. Fröhlich, “How Can Migrants’ Language Proficiency Be
    Measured? A Discussion of Opportunities and Challenges When Studying the Impact
    of Language Skills on Social Position ,” <i>Migration Letters</i>, vol. 17, no.
    5, pp. 695–704, 2020, doi: <a href="https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v17i5.803">10.33182/ml.v17i5.803</a>.'
  mla: Diekmann, Isabell, and Joanna Jadwiga Fröhlich. “How Can Migrants’ Language
    Proficiency Be Measured? A Discussion of Opportunities and Challenges When Studying
    the Impact of Language Skills on Social Position .” <i>Migration Letters</i>,
    vol. 17, no. 5, Transnational Press London, 2020, pp. 695–704, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.33182/ml.v17i5.803">10.33182/ml.v17i5.803</a>.
  short: I. Diekmann, J.J. Fröhlich, Migration Letters 17 (2020) 695–704.
date_created: 2025-10-21T11:20:58Z
date_updated: 2025-10-21T11:28:11Z
doi: 10.33182/ml.v17i5.803
extern: '1'
intvolume: '        17'
issue: '5'
keyword:
- migration
- social inequalities
- language proficiency
- social position
- language measures
language:
- iso: eng
page: 695–704
publication: Migration Letters
publication_identifier:
  issn:
  - 1741-8992
publisher: Transnational Press London
status: public
title: 'How Can Migrants’ Language Proficiency Be Measured? A Discussion of Opportunities
  and Challenges When Studying the Impact of Language Skills on Social Position '
type: journal_article
user_id: '119325'
volume: 17
year: '2020'
...