E.g., 09/21/2023
E.g., 09/21/2023
Language Access

Language Access

_LanguageAccess1

The phrase "language access services" describes services that agencies use to bridge the communication barrier with individuals who cannot speak, understand, read, or write  fluently in the host-country language. In the United States, federal law and executive orders mandate compliance with language access requirements for any agency receiving federal funds. Explore MPI's research in this area and visit the Language Access: Translation and Interpretation Policies and Practices section for national and state-level data on LEP individuals, commentaries by service providers, and more.

Recent Activity

_Education
Multimedia
May 8, 2012
Federal Update: A Conversation on Language Access with the U.S. Department of Justice
cover_LEP_FactSheet_NoSGL
Fact Sheets
December 2011
Limited English Proficient Individuals in the United States: Number, Share, Growth, and Linguistic Diversity
By  Chhandasi Pandya, Margie McHugh and Jeanne Batalova
_ImmigrantStudents3CROP
Multimedia
October 6, 2011
Language Access and Schools: Federal Requirements and School Experiences
_SkillsTraining4
Multimedia
September 21, 2011
LEP Workers & Access to Workforce Services: Perspectives on Current Barriers to Access and Prospects for Improvements Under WIA Reauthorization
_SkillsTraining1
Multimedia
August 3, 2011
Proactive Engagement: Two Strategies for Providing Language Access in Workforce Development Services
cover communicatingmore
Reports
January 2011
Communicating More for Less: Using Translation and Interpretation Technology to Serve Limited English Proficient Individuals
By  Jessica Sperling
cover langAccessservices
Reports
July 2009
Is This Working? Assessment and Evaluation Methods Used to Build and Access Language Services in Social Services Agencies In Social Services Agencies
By  Laureen Laglagaron and Jessica Sperling
cover LEPfundingformula
Reports
June 2009
Taking Limited English Proficient Adults into Account in the Federal Adult Education Funding Formula
By  Randy Capps, Michael Fix, Margie McHugh and Serena Yi-Ying Lin

Pages

Recent Activity

Audio, Webinars
May 8, 2012

Federal Update: A Conversation on Language Access with the U.S. Department of Justice

This MPI webinar features U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials discussing the department’s efforts to improve communications with Limited English Proficient (LEP) communities in federal and federally-funded programs and activities.

Fact Sheets
December 2011

Limited English Proficient Individuals in the United States: Number, Share, Growth, and Linguistic Diversity

The number of U.S. residents deemed Limited English Proficient (LEP) has increased substantially in recent decades, consistent with the growth of the U.S. foreign-born population. This brief offers analysis on the number, share, growth, and linguistic diversity of LEP individuals in the United States from 1990 to 2010 at the national, state, and metropolitan-area levels.

Audio, Webinars
October 6, 2011

Language Access and Schools: Federal Requirements and School Experiences

This is the latest in NCIIP’s language access webinar series exploring the policy and program implementation imperatives for government and community agencies serving Limited English Proficient (LEP) populations.

Audio, Webinars
September 21, 2011

LEP Workers & Access to Workforce Services: Perspectives on Current Barriers to Access and Prospects for Improvements Under WIA Reauthorization

In this webinar, experts discuss barriers immigrant and LEP individuals face in accessing the WIA system, how a revitalized WIA could address these barriers, and the extent to which the current Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee's WIA reauthorization proposal addresses these barriers.

Audio, Webinars
August 3, 2011

Proactive Engagement: Two Strategies for Providing Language Access in Workforce Development Services

This interactive language access webinar, one in a series offered by the Migration Policy Institute's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, examines how New York and Illinois have broken down some of these barriers to proactively engage LEP communities to obtain workforce services.

Reports
January 2011

Communicating More for Less: Using Translation and Interpretation Technology to Serve Limited English Proficient Individuals

This report provides an overview of several commonly used translation and interpretation technologies. It aims to assist language access practitioners in understanding and identifying which systems would best meet their agency’s language access needs.

Reports
July 2009

Is This Working? Assessment and Evaluation Methods Used to Build and Access Language Services in Social Services Agencies In Social Services Agencies

The enactment of President Clinton’s Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Executive Order, issued in 2000, triggered a proliferation of efforts to provide services to individuals who cannot speak, understand, read, or write English fluently. With increased service provision, state and local government agencies have expressed a strong and growing interest in assuring the quality and cost-effectiveness of language access services. This paper attempts to catalog and describe some of those tools and practices.

Reports
June 2009

Taking Limited English Proficient Adults into Account in the Federal Adult Education Funding Formula

This report examines the funding formula used to distribute Workforce Investment Act Title II federal funds for adult education, literacy, and English as a Second Language instruction, and argues that the formula fails to account for the size and needs of adults with limited English proficiency.

Pages