Module 1: Activities

The following activities help better understand some of the studies that have been made about language brokering.

01.  Recording Voices: Stories of Asian Pacific American Youth as Language Brokers in New York City. This is a presentation of a research project on Asian youth brokers. Kids are asked to tell their stories about their experience as interpreters. The goal of this project was to analyze the impact of these practices in terms of family dynamics and of improving language access for the Asian American communities and other linguistically diverse communities.

-       02. Translating Childhoods: book presentation by Dr. Marjorie Faulstich Orellana. This activity helps understand language brokering in several aspects: psychological, sociological, educational, and demographically. 
      

 
03. Dr. Marjorie Faulstich Orellana’s conference on language brokering in Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University (See link "Dr. Orellana at WWU)

Module 1: Conclusion

In brief, with language brokering practices, children become advocates; they negotiate between two worlds (Orellana, 2009), they serve as bridges that connect two points. In other words, they are cultural brokers (Buriel, Perez, De Ment, Chavez, & Moran, 1998), so that their parents may effectively function in the new culture (Weisskirch & Alva, 2002). However, this multifunctionality of children brokers doesn’t necessarily infer with their parents’ acculturation processes.

Module 1: References

Baker, C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (4^th. Ed.).Buffalo; Multilingual Matters.

Buriel, R., Perez, W., De Ment, T., Chavez, D. V. & Moran, V. (1998). The relationship of language brokering to academic performance, biculturalism, and self-efficacy among Latino adolescents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 20 (3), 283-297. doi:10.1177/07399863980203001

Cline, T., Crafter, S., O’Dell & Guida de Abreu (2011). Young people’s representations of language brokering. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 32(3), 207 – 220. doi:10.1080/01434632.2011.558901

Kam, J. A. (2011).  The effects of language brokering frequency and feelings on Mexican-heritage youth’s mental health and risky behaviors. Journal of Communication 61, 455 – 475. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2011.01552.x

Love, J. & Buriel, R. (2007). Language brokering, autonomy, parent-child bonding, biculturalism, and depression: A study of Mexican American adolescents from immigrant families. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 29 (4),472-491. doi:10.1177/0739986307229

Martinez Jr, C. R., Heather, H. M & Eddy, J. M. (2009). Language brokering contexts and behavioral and emotional adjustment among Latino parents and adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence 29 (1), 71-98. doi:10.1177/0272431608324477

Orellana, M. F. (2009). Translating childhoods immigrant youth, language, and culture. New Brunswick, N. J.: Rutgers University Press.

Weisskirch, R. S. (2007). Feelings about language brokering and family relations among Mexican American early adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence 27 (4),545-561. doi:10.1177/0272431607302935

Weisskirch, R. S., & Alva, S. A. (2002). Language brokering and the acculturation of Latino children. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 24, 369-378. doi:10.1177/0739986302024003007

Module 2: Acculturation Processes: How and when?

Introduction: Module 2 consists of explaining acculturation processes and how (and when) it takes place.

Objective:  The objective of this module is to determine the acculturation expected to find in parents with brokering experience.

International business, international investment, or just looking for a better life are several reasons that make people migrate to other countries. These good reasons to migrate may come at a cost and fail without a good understanding of differences between cultures (Routamaa & Hautala, 2008).

Acculturation is one of the important factors that affect immigrants in the U.S. In their studies, John, Phipps, Davis, & Koo (2005) affirm that the traditional concept of acculturation implies the replacement of the original culture by a new one. This is the meaning of the American ‘melting-pot’. This conceptualization was replaced by models of biculturalism (Caetano, Ramisetty-Mikler, Wallisch, McGrath, & Spence, 2008). However Gallo, Penedo, Espinosa de los Monteros and Arguelles (2009) state that acculturation is best described as a normal process between both cultures. This process requires a timeline in various places through the whole migration process.

Acculturation can be defined as “the process of cultural and psychological change that follows when a group of individuals having different cultures comes in contact with a new culture” (Mahmud & Schölmerich, 2011, p. 278). There are three strategies for this adjustment process: foreigners can psychologically adjust their behaviors to the environment, they may change the environment, or they may move to a better environment (Berry, Kim, & Boski, 1988)