From Southern California Public Radio:
The experience of 1.5 generation immigrants, a term used to describe people who arrived in the U.S. as children and adolescents, is a unique one. Unlike their first-generation parents or U.S.-born siblings, their identity is split. They are American in many ways, sometimes in most, but not entirely.... The 1.5 term isn't as widely used among non-Asians, though it's gained popularity among Latinos lately. And interestingly, though not all scholars agree with it, there's a 1.5-generation scale: [Ruben] Rumbaut, who studies immigration as a professor at UC Irvine, came up with sub-categories to describe who arrived at what age. According to the scale, those who arrived between ages six and 12 are the truest 1.5s; those who came at age five or younger are "1.75s," closer to the second, with little or no memory of their native country. Older youths who arrived between ages 13 and 17 would be "1.25s," more likely to have an outlook similar to the first generation.

For the full story, please visit http://multiamerican.scpr.org/2012/03/what-is-a-1-5-where-an-immigrant-g....