Learning foreign languages: Theoretical and empirical implications of the Selten and Pool model

In this paper we adopt the Selten–Pool [Selten, R., Pool, J., 1991. The distribution of foreign language skills as a game equilibrium. In: Selten, R. (Ed.), Game Equilibrium Models, vol. 4. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 64–84] framework of language acquisition based on “communicative benefits” derive...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of economic behavior & organization 2007-11, Vol.64 (3), p.337-347
Main Authors: Ginsburgh, Victor, Ortuño-Ortín, Ignacio, Weber, Shlomo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Communication
Communicative benefits
Demand curves
Economic models
Economics of education
Equilibrium
Estimation of demand functions for languages
European Union
Foreign language learning
Foreign languages
Language acquisition
Languages
Languages Communicative benefits Learning costs Linguistic distances Estimation of demand functions for languages European Union
Learning
Learning costs
Linguistic distances
Linguistics
Sociolinguistics
Studies
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Summary:In this paper we adopt the Selten–Pool [Selten, R., Pool, J., 1991. The distribution of foreign language skills as a game equilibrium. In: Selten, R. (Ed.), Game Equilibrium Models, vol. 4. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 64–84] framework of language acquisition based on “communicative benefits” derived from the ability to communicate with other speakers of an acquired language, and “learning costs” incurred by acquiring a foreign language. We show that, under some mild conditions, there exists a unique interior linguistic equilibrium. We then derive demand functions for foreign languages, that we estimate for English, French, German and Spanish in 13 European countries and demonstrate that the properties of these functions are consistent with our theoretical results.
ISSN:0167-2681
1879-1751
DOI:10.1016/j.jebo.2006.10.005