Culture, Language, and Literacy: The Effects of Child Brokering on Language Minority Education.

Abstract

Three studies of language brokering among linguistic minority (LM) children are reviewed and discussed. In child language brokering, children act as linguistic mediators, not translators or interpreters, for their limited-English-proficient parents and relatives. The purpose of the studies was to describe brokering in LM communities and to examine its effects from the perspectives of culture and affect, cognition, and language and literacy. In the first study, 9 children aged 3-14 who brokered in various linguistic communities were interviewed. Data obtained were used to construct surveys used in the two subsequent studies. In the second study, 64 Chinese and Vietnamese-American students participated, and in the third, 35 Latino students were surveyed. Students were asked to report on their brokering activities and how they believed it affected them culturally and linguistically. In addition, self-report data on language proficiency were gathered. Results suggest that brokers assumed the role of surrogate parent, for themselves and siblings, and gained confidence, independence, knowledge, and trust when compared with other children. However, they also experienced increased stress. Brokering children also acquired oral and written language skills quickly and attained adult-level reasoning. Implications are discussed. Contains 28 references. (MSE) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ***********************************************************************

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