Language Brokering Among Mexican-Immigrant Families in the Midwest

Abstract

Language brokering (LB) is the act of translating and interpreting within immigrant families by children and adolescents for their parents, other family members, and other adults. Although LB is a common phenomenon among immigrant families in the United States, research regarding its impact on immigrant families mainly focuses on the experiences of language brokers only and not on their parents or immediate families. Thus, the purpose of this in-depth multiple qualitative case study was to understand how the demands of LB affected relationships within Mexican immigrant families living in the Midwestern United States. Six two-parent Mexican immigrant families with an identified child language broker participated in this study. Parents and child brokers were interviewed separately and participated in an LB simulation. The data were analyzed case by case through thematic analysis followed by cross-case analysis. Four themes emerged as pertinent across all cases and included family relationships, feelings about brokering, language brokering situations, and challenges of language brokering.