Long-Term Effects of Language Course Timing on Language Acquisitionand Social Contacts: Turkish and Moroccan Immigrants in Western Europe 1

This article investigates long-term effects of the timing of language courseparticipation among immigrants, focusing on self-assessed immigration countrylanguage skills and interethnic social contacts among immigrants from Turkey andMorocco who came to Western Europe mainly during the guest worker period. Datastem from the 2008 Six Country Immigrant Integration Comparative Survey. We finda positive, long-term impact of course participation in the first four yearsafter immigration on language skills and social contacts. Results supportlinguistic theories on the benefits of early language instruction andsociopsychological theories on long-term effects of (even short) socialbelonging interventions on participants’ perseverance in achieving educationalsuccess.