scholarly journals "If We Don't Do It For Our Parents, Then Who Will?" Afghan Youth as Cultural/Language Brokers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shabnam Sarwary
Keyword(s):  
Previous Literature ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Language Brokering ◽  
Immigrant Adolescents ◽  
Language Brokers ◽  
Language Broker ◽  
Sources Of Support ◽  
Positive Experiences ◽  
Cultural Brokering

This paper looks at the role that immigrant adolescents play as cultural/language brokers for their families. Research shows that immigrant adolescents play exceptionally supportive roles as cultural/language brokers for their families during the early years of settlement. There is limited research examining this phenomenon of cultural brokering by immigrant adolescents in Canada, and perhaps no particular research focusing on Afghan youth. The paper presents insights from nine Afghan youth who through their cultural/language brokering are important sources of support for their families during settlement. It will also include a compilation of previous literature on this area. Despite the struggles of negotiating with their role as cultural/language brokers in the early years, the youth generally shared positive experiences of being able to be a source of assistance for their families. Additionally, the participants viewed their role as a cultural/language broker to be a part of their familial responsibility

scholarly journals "If We Don't Do It For Our Parents, Then Who Will?" Afghan Youth as Cultural/Language Brokers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shabnam Sarwary
Keyword(s):  
Previous Literature ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Language Brokering ◽  
Immigrant Adolescents ◽  
Language Brokers ◽  
Language Broker ◽  
Sources Of Support ◽  
Positive Experiences ◽  
Cultural Brokering

This paper looks at the role that immigrant adolescents play as cultural/language brokers for their families. Research shows that immigrant adolescents play exceptionally supportive roles as cultural/language brokers for their families during the early years of settlement. There is limited research examining this phenomenon of cultural brokering by immigrant adolescents in Canada, and perhaps no particular research focusing on Afghan youth. The paper presents insights from nine Afghan youth who through their cultural/language brokering are important sources of support for their families during settlement. It will also include a compilation of previous literature on this area. Despite the struggles of negotiating with their role as cultural/language brokers in the early years, the youth generally shared positive experiences of being able to be a source of assistance for their families. Additionally, the participants viewed their role as a cultural/language broker to be a part of their familial responsibility

Understanding Latino/a language brokers’ identity goals in association with parent–child relational quality

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 490-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachyl L. Pines ◽  
Jennifer A. Kam ◽  
Quinten Bernhold
Keyword(s):  
Language Brokering ◽  
Cultural Identification ◽  
Parent Child Relationship ◽  
Relational Quality ◽  
Child Relationship ◽  
Eighth Grade Students ◽  
Relational Closeness ◽  
Language Brokers ◽  
Language Broker ◽  
Parent Child

In the U.S., children of immigrant families often language broker—linguistically and culturally mediate for their family and members of U.S. mainstream culture. Previous research indicates that language brokering can have important implications for the parent–child relationship. Using survey data from 274 Latino/a sixth- to eighth-grade students, we examined how young brokers’ identity goals (i.e., “acting Latino/a” and “acting U.S. American”) and cultural identification are associated with parent–child relational closeness and parent–child destructive conflict management. Results showed that, in general, accommodating their parent by “acting Latino/a” was associated with higher relational quality for young language brokers who reported weak Latino/a cultural identification. Accommodating Latino/a parents’ cultural identity while language brokering might help improve parent–child relational quality for young Latino/a language brokers.

Spanish-speaking family members and non-Spanish speakers’ supportive and unsupportive communication for Latina/o/x language brokers

2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752110312
Author(s):  
Roselia Mendez Murillo ◽  
Jennifer A. Kam
Keyword(s):  
Family Members ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Language Brokering ◽  
Early Adolescent ◽  
Emotional Communication ◽  
Supportive Communication ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Language Brokers ◽  
Positive Experiences

Past research with Latina/o/x adolescent samples has found that language brokering can be a positive experience, but at times, stressful. Although many factors can contribute to these different brokering experiences, the ways in which Spanish-speaking family members and non-Spanish speakers support (or do not support) Latina/o/x adolescent children during their brokering exchanges can be a contributing factor. To better understand how Spanish-speaking family members and non-Spanish speakers can support young brokers, we interviewed 31 Latina/o/x early adolescent brokers. Our thematic analysis revealed that when brokers reported on family, the most prevalent type of supportive communication received was informational supportive communication. Brokers also reported that their family engaged in unsupportive emotional communication, but when family provided supportive communication, brokers felt efficacious and proud for helping their family. In addition, most brokers reported receiving informational supportive communication from non-Spanish speakers. Nevertheless, some brokers also reported that non-Spanish speakers provided limited informational supportive communication (i.e., absence of supportive communication). Our findings reveal what supportive and unsupportive communication might look like for brokers and how supportive communication can contribute to positive experiences for brokers.

The Relationship Among Language Brokering, Parent–Child Bonding, and Mental Health Correlates Among Latinx College Students

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 316-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Morales ◽  
Kenneth T. Wang
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Depression Scale ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Language Brokering ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Language Brokers ◽  
Language Broker ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Parent Child

The purpose of the study was to identify distinctive types of language brokering among Latinx college students. A sample of 678 Latinx college students attending two Southern California teaching colleges participated in the study. A cluster analysis was conducted using the four subscales of the Language Brokering Scale: People, Places, Things, and Feelings. The analyses identified three types of language broker based on levels of brokering: high, moderate, and low language brokers. Each group was compared on their scores on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults, and the Parent–Child Bonding Scale. The results revealed that high language brokers scored significantly higher on depression, anxiety, and parent–child bonding compared to the other two groups. Recommendations for future research and implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Language brokering by young adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aída Martínez-Gómez
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Child Language ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Communication Channels ◽  
The United States ◽  
Language Brokering ◽  
College Age ◽  
Socialization Processes ◽  
Language Brokers

Abstract This study explores the “who, what, where, and how” of language brokering as performed by young adults. Given that the backgrounds of child language brokers merge with the socialization processes that encompass early adulthood, their potentially unique experiences may reveal valuable information about language brokering that can contribute to the advancement of academic, professional, and educational endeavors. This study examines the ontological narratives of 21 college-age language brokers in the United States to illustrate if and how their insights expand the limits of traditional views of interpreter-mediated interaction (e.g., in terms of settings, communication channels, degree of active participation).

Language Brokering, Prosocial Capacities, and Intercultural Communication Apprehension Among Latina Mothers and Their Adolescent Children

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Kam ◽  
Lisa M. Guntzviller ◽  
Rachyl Pines
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Communication Apprehension ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Language Brokering ◽  
Latina Mothers ◽  
Path Analyses ◽  
Positive Experiences ◽  
Intercultural Interactions ◽  
General Perspective

Past research on language brokering has primarily focused on the positive and negative outcomes that children of immigrant families experience from brokering. Little is known, however, regarding the positive experiences that language brokees—the immigrant family members for whom children broker—garner from participating in this interaction. Utilizing survey data from 120 Latina/o mother–adolescent dyads, we examined whether more frequent participation in brokering was positively related to mothers’ (i.e., brokees) and adolescents’ (i.e., brokers) prosocial capacities. In turn, we considered whether their prosocial capacities were related to feeling less apprehensive interacting with people outside their cultural group (i.e., intercultural communication apprehension). Multigroup path analyses revealed that mothers’ and adolescents’ frequent participation in brokering was positively related to general perspective-taking and empathic concern; however, only empathic concern was negatively related to intercultural communication apprehension. Our findings reveal that brokers and brokees may experience benefits with positive implications for their intercultural interactions.

Interpreting Service: Educating Child Language Brokers through Service-Learning

2016 ◽  
pp. 434-453
Author(s):  
Julia Sandler
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Child Language ◽  
Language Brokering ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Academic Benefits ◽  
Local Schools ◽  
Language Brokers ◽  
Professional Interpreting

How might a service-learning course help child language brokers (Tse, 1996) minimize negative effects and maximize the cognitive and academic benefits of language brokering? This question is answered with data from an ethnographic case study of a high school service-learning course in translation and interpreting. Heritage speakers of Spanish and less commonly taught languages serve as volunteer interpreters at local schools while learning the skills, habits and ethics of professional interpreting in this course. The theoretical lens of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977; 2006) is used to analyze how this curriculum affects students. This article also contributes to evolving definitions of service-learning for heritage language speakers, arguing that language brokering that students do for their families and communities should be seen as a pre-existing “service” that can be utilized in the prepare-act-reflect cycle of service-learning. Analysis of the data shows that this cycle is key to supporting students in building the confidence and skills to pursue careers in professional interpreting and helping them manage their family interpreting experiences. Students demonstrated increased self-efficacy perceptions in terms of interpreting, academic achievement and general life events, although the role that service-learning played in the latter two outcomes is still unclear.

scholarly journals Re-interpreting: Narratives of childhood language brokering over time

Childhood ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjorie Faulstich Orellana ◽  
Ann Phoenix
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
The United States ◽  
Language Brokering ◽  
Childhood Studies ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Language Broker ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Adult Lives

This article probes how childhood experiences are actively taken into adult lives and thus challenges the unwitting and unintentional reproduction of an adult–child binary in childhood studies. We do this by analyzing interviews with one adult daughter of immigrants from Mexico to the United States at four points in time (ages 19, 26, 27, and 33). Using narrative analysis to examine the mutability of memory, we consider how Eva oriented herself to her childhood story, what was salient and invisible in each recount, the values she associated with the practice, and the meanings she took from her experiences. We show how Eva re-interpreted her experiences as an immigrant child language broker in relation to unfolding life events, showing her childhood to be very much alive in her adult life. Language brokering serves as one way in which to examine the interpenetration of childhood into adulthood, rather than being the focus per se.

scholarly journals More than words can say: Why health and social care policy makers should reconsider their position on informal interpreters

2020 ◽  
pp. 026101832091181
Author(s):  
Sarah Pollock
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Language Brokers ◽  
Language Broker ◽  
The Uk

In the UK, individuals with limited English-language proficiency (LEP) self-report poorer health and face challenges accessing health and social care support. Health and social care policies in English speaking countries provide practitioners with guidance that ensures access to public service interpreters for individuals who require them. The guidance simultaneously discourages the use of informal language brokers, including family and friends, suggesting that they are not educated or objective enough to conduct this role, and that they present unmanageable risks. This poses a challenge, as research exploring patient and service user choices, finds that individuals consistently prefer an informal language broker. The paper explores the contradiction between a legislative shift towards empowerment and choice within social work and the policies that restrict these rights in relation to interpretation. Exploring these challenges with a focus on policy and practice, leads to the suggestion that individuals should be empowered to choose who provides their language support. In contrast, existing policies increase the power imbalance between professionals and users of services, significantly affecting the life chances of those with LEP.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document