TY - JOUR

T1 - Acculturation Timing among Newcomer and more Experienced Immigrant Youth

T2 - The Role of Language Use in Ethnic Friendship Homophily

AU - Titzmann, Peter F.

AU - Aumann, Lara

AU - Lee, Richard M.

N1 - Funding Information: This project was funded through the German Israeli Project Cooperation (DIP-4.1) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung). Principal investigators: Rainer K. Silbereisen, Gideon Fishman, Gustavo Mesch, and Zvi Eisikovits. We thank Rainer K. Silbereisen for support with the data. The data collection was funded through the German Israeli Project Cooperation (DIP-4.1) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

PY - 2023/11

Y1 - 2023/11

N2 - The usage of the new language is a crucial aspect in immigrant youth adaptation. However, despite substantial inter- and intraindividual variability and dynamic changes, language usage has been studied primarily with a focus on static interindividual differences. This study utilized a recently introduced Temporal Model of Acculturative Change to test associations between language acquisition and friendship homophily. More specifically, three concepts were tested: pace (individual rate of change), relative timing (the deviation from peers with similar length of residence), and transition timing (preparedness for the relocation). Data comprised a three-wave-longitudinal sample of 820 ethnic German adolescents from Eastern European States who immigrated to Germany (Mage = 16.1, 57% girls). Results revealed, particularly among recent immigrant adolescents, that transition timing predicted earlier relative acculturation timing in language usage and that early relative timing in language usage predicted levels and change rates in friendship homophily (over and above acculturation pace and the actual level of language usage). Findings highlight the need to better understand the dynamics in acculturation processes of immigrant youth.

AB - The usage of the new language is a crucial aspect in immigrant youth adaptation. However, despite substantial inter- and intraindividual variability and dynamic changes, language usage has been studied primarily with a focus on static interindividual differences. This study utilized a recently introduced Temporal Model of Acculturative Change to test associations between language acquisition and friendship homophily. More specifically, three concepts were tested: pace (individual rate of change), relative timing (the deviation from peers with similar length of residence), and transition timing (preparedness for the relocation). Data comprised a three-wave-longitudinal sample of 820 ethnic German adolescents from Eastern European States who immigrated to Germany (Mage = 16.1, 57% girls). Results revealed, particularly among recent immigrant adolescents, that transition timing predicted earlier relative acculturation timing in language usage and that early relative timing in language usage predicted levels and change rates in friendship homophily (over and above acculturation pace and the actual level of language usage). Findings highlight the need to better understand the dynamics in acculturation processes of immigrant youth.

KW - Acculturation timing

KW - Acculturative development

KW - Friendship homophily

KW - Host language acquisition

KW - Immigrant adolescents

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85167503313&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10964-023-01830-6

DO - 10.1007/s10964-023-01830-6

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85167503313

VL - 52

SP - 2357

EP - 2369

JO - Journal of youth and adolescence

JF - Journal of youth and adolescence

SN - 0047-2891

IS - 11

ER -