Language Brokering in Immigrant Families

Language Brokering in Immigrant Families: Theories and Contexts brings together an international group of researchers to share their findings on language brokering-when immigrant children translate for their parents and other adults. Given the large amount of immigration occurring worldwide, it is important to understand how language brokering may support children's and families' acculturation to new countries. The chapter authors include overviews of the existing literature, insights from multiple disciplines, the potential benefits and drawbacks to language brokering, and the contexts that may influence children, adolescents, and emerging adults who language broker. With the latest findings, the authors theorize on how language brokering may function and the outcomes for those who do so.

Robert S. Weisskirch, MSW, Ph.D. is a Professor of Human Development in the Liberal Studies Department at California State University, Monterey Bay.

Part I: Frameworks of Language Brokering 1. A Developmental Perspective on Language Brokering Robert S. Weisskirch 2. New Approaches to Studying Language Brokering from a Communication Perspective Jennifer A. Kam, Lisa M. Guntzviller, and Cynthia Stohl 3. Outcomes of Language Brokering, Mediators, and Moderators: A Systematic Review Yishan Shen, Kelsey E. Tilton, and Su Yeong Kim Part II: Family Dynamics 4. Friendly Takeover: Predictors and Effects of Language Brokering Among Diaspora Immigrants in Germany Peter F. Titzmann and Andrea Michel 5. Understanding Language Brokering and Self-Perceptions Among Young Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel Olga Oznobishin and Jenny Kurman 6. Arab Americans' Brokering in a Context of Tension and Stereotypes: "It's Just a Head-Cover. Get Over It!" Afaf Nash 7. Adolescent Language Brokering for Immigrant Chinese Parents in Canada Josephine M. Hua and Catherine L. Costigan Part III: Applied Contexts and Settings 8. Immigrant Internetworks: Language Brokering and Internet Use Shu-Sha Angie Guan 9. Theorizing Child Language Brokering: The Example of Brokering in Health Care Settings Guida de Abreu and Lindsay O'Dell 10. Cognitive, Socioemotional, and Developmental Neuroscience Perspectives on Language Brokering Vanessa R. Rainey, Valerie Flores-Lamb, and Eva Gjorgieva 11. Young Adult Language Brokers' and Teachers' Views of the Advantages and Disadvantages of Brokering in School Sarah Crafter, Tony Cline, and Evangelia Prokopiou Part IV: Parents' Roles and Emerging Adult Language Brokers 12. Immigrant Parents' Language Brokering Practices: A Taxonomy of Interlingual and Intralingual Brokering Jin Sook Lee and Meghan Corella 13. Turning Points and Tensions: Emerging Adulthood for Language Brokers Lisa M. Dorner 14. Future Directions for Language Brokering Research Robert S. Weisskirch