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A shock report has revealed that a full ONE THIRD of US Naturalized citizens cannot speak English - which is shocking when you realize that in order to take the oath of citizenship you have to be able to.
When I went through the process, even I had to take the English test in front of an immigration officer. It is beyond me how we find ourselves i this position which has been revealed in this shocking report from the Center for Immigration Studies.
The author, Jason Richwine, an independent public policy analyst, concluded:
How did millions of immigrants become citizens without basic English literacy? The simple answer is that the government's English test is far less demanding than the PIAAC test. The PIAAC definition of literacy is "understanding, evaluating, using, and engaging with written text to participate in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential." Simply reading and writing basic English sentences does not necessarily meet that definition. As mentioned above, even some native English speakers struggle to apply their knowledge to language-intensive tasks.
By contrast, naturalization applicants need only "read aloud one out of three sentences correctly" and "write one out of three sentences correctly" to prove their English ability. Does a person who passes this test sound ready to fully participate in the nation's social, economic, and civic interchange? Though its content already seems insufficient, the test is not even required of applicants who have reached certain age and residency milestones. If we are serious about new citizens developing functional English skills, the United States should adopt more rigorous language requirements.
READ the full report here