Paper Title
Social Class Effect in Language Mastery Proficiency Tests

Abstract
Bourdieu and Passeron (1970) defended the thesis that the school was the main locus to legitimate and perpetuate class differences. This is reinforced by the multiple proficiency tests used in the literature to monitor public policies, which privilege the use of the formal language as part of the instruments. We propose to use a hierarchical model with ENADE’s results on standard Portuguese grades, using as covariates, indicators of students’ socioeconomic status and economic independence. Indeed our findings point out that socioeconomic status play a significant role in language proficiency and therefore can impact proficiencies and job opportunities. Keywords - Socioeconomic Status, Language Proficiency, Hierarchical Model