Language Brokering Experience Affects Feelings Toward Bilingualism,Language Knowledge,Use,and Practices: A Qualitative Approach

Abstract

Language brokering refers to the global practice whereby children in immigrant communities are called upon by family members to serve as linguistic and cultural intermediaries by translating and interpreting. Past research has examined the effects of brokering on parent-child relationships, mental health, and substance abuse and feelings toward brokering. A lesser-studied area is brokering effects on bilingualism, language maintenance, and cognition. This study examined how brokers perceive their own feelings toward their brokering, bilingualism, language, and problem-solving abilities through a series of semistructured interviews with Latinx college students. Language brokers reported both positive and negative experiences in addition to viewing language brokering as important for maintaining their first language and bilingualism. Language brokers also identified ways in which brokering experience enhanced their problem-solving abilities. These findings extend prior research by suggesting that brokering is an experience, which operates across cultural and linguistic domains. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Keywords

language brokering Latinx college students bilingualism problem-solving metalinguistic awareness

Currently, more than 40 million immigrants reside in the United States and speak languages other than English (Gambino, Acosta, & Greico, 2014). When non-English-speaking immigrant families arrive in the United States, the children, who generally learn English at a faster rate than the adults, are called upon to help translate for the families’ rights, services, and well-being (Anguiano, 2018; Morales & Hanson, 2005; Trickett & Jones, 2007). These children and adolescents, termed language brokers (Tse, 1995), cultural brokers (Kam & Lazarevic, 2014a), or natural translators (Hall & Sham, 2007), become skilled in steering and guiding complex and charged interactions in a variety of settings.

Language brokers utilize two language systems when comprehending, speaking, reading, and writing, which makes them bilingual (see Grosjean, 1997, for a definition of bilingualism). However, unlike other bilinguals, language brokers employ linguistic and cognitive skills beyond their grade level, due in part to amassed brokering experience in childhood and adolescence (Buriel, Perez, De Ment, Chavez, & Moran, 1998; Orellana & D’warte, 2010; Valdés, 2003). Informally, brokers acquire pragmatic skills by virtue of translating informally, which further develops their metalinguistic skills beyond that of their contemporaries who do not engage in brokering (Buriel et al., 1998). Although recent experimental psycholinguistic work has examined how brokering may lead to different outcomes across bilingual groups with and without brokering experience (López & Vaid, 2018a, 2018b; López, Vaid, Tosun, & Rao, 2017; Vaid, López, & Martínez, 2015), there is a need to examine how brokers themselves describe the effects of language brokering on their translation and bilingual abilities. As such, this article employs a qualitative approach in the study of language brokering experiences to examine how this informal translation experience shapes bilingual abilities.

Language brokering relies on bilingual children translating written information (e.g., notes to and from school, employment forms, immigration documents, and bills) and interpreting oral information (e.g., facilitating parent-teacher conferences, medical appointments, and restaurant orders; Morales & Hanson, 2005). Language brokers embody an important role in their families and communities, especially in regard to significant negotiations such as buying a car or filling out job applications (Anguiano, 2018; Katz, 2010, 2014). For some, the role of brokering may appear to be another family chore, yet for others the role is of more importance (Dorner, Orellana, & Jiménez, 2008; Orellana & Phoenix, 2017). Interestingly, recent work by Orellana and Phoenix (2017) finds that broker’s views on the experience differed drastically depending on when brokers are interviewed for a study. Brokers may reflect on their past brokering experiences as more traumatic, but this is modulated by their current life circumstances (e.g., marriage, children, new career; Orellana & Phoenix, 2017). This suggests that views and feelings on brokering are not stagnant; rather, brokering experiences are dynamic. Indeed, the effects of language brokering are long-lasting and it is important to examine them across the lifespan. In this study, we were interested in understanding how language brokers reflect on their experiences in relation to their own brokering and bilingual abilities.

Language brokering experiences can lead to positive emotional and psychological outcomes. Language brokers report feelings of increased confidence in their translation abilities and an overall greater sense of responsibility for their families (Dorner et al., 2008; Martinez, McClure, & Eddy, 2009). These positive emotional feelings have also been related to higher academic achievement in relation to higher standardized test scores and school grades (Buriel et al., 1998; Dorner, Orellana, & Li-Grining, 2007; Orellana & D’warte, 2010). These findings would then suggest that prior language brokering experiences lead to encouraging outcomes. Although the aforementioned studies focused on assessing feelings related to translation activities, there is limited research on how brokers evaluate their past brokering experiences.

Other factors may affect how language brokers recall their previous language brokering experiences (Acoach & Webb, 2004; Buriel et al., 1998; Shannon, 1990). The age (i.e., as a child vs. an adult) and the time (i.e., still brokering vs. no longer brokering) at which brokers are asked to reflect upon their brokering experiences may affect the types of responses garnered (Orellana & Phoenix, 2017; Shannon, 1990). It is important to understand how the age at which a broker is asked to reflect upon their experience matters, but also how brokering experience may affect the bilingual abilities of the broker. Currently, there is a need for research that also evaluates and understands the potential long-term cognitive and linguistic consequences of translation experiences such as language brokering.

Bilingualism and Language Brokering

Emergent research has shed light on the unique translation skills associated with language brokering. Valdés (2003) conducted a study with young brokers who completed an interpretation task, where they simultaneously listened to and interpreted a conversation between a parent and a school administrator. Valdés found that brokers were generally excellent in their linguistic skills, particularly, metalinguistic awareness (e.g., ability to think about language) and were able to resolve potential conflicts and misunderstandings during the translation activity. Enhanced metalinguistic ability and pragmatic knowledge are both skills attributed to prior language brokering experience (Buriel et al., 1998; Vaid et al., 2015; Valdés, 2003), as brokering experience may allow for additional linguistic and pragmatic knowledge about social interactions (i.e., interpreting) to be acquired outside of a school environment. If language brokering experiences enhance metalinguistic skills, then how may language brokering enhance or affect decision-making strategies when translating both written and oral information?

When translating or interpreting language brokers may encounter situations where they do not know the meaning of a word or they may encounter an ambiguous word or phrase, these situations then call for brokers to utilize different strategies to help resolve any potential linguistic issues. For instance, Katz (2014) examined the interactional role between language brokers, parents, and health care providers and how these interactions affect the health care access of their families due to perceptions of providers of brokers and their families. Although the focus of this study did not explicitly examine the strategies used by brokers, the findings demonstrate that brokers rely on communication strategies with their parents when relaying information between parents and health care providers. These strategies included the parent and child working collectively during health care interactions. Language brokers also extracted meaning from the context and often asked for additional explanations or even clarifications during brokering interactions. In addition, language brokers used tools like dictionaries when encountering difficulties in translation of written information. Katz found that brokers not only relied on linguistic skills, but also utilized their cultural knowledge to assist in the translation of information between their parents and medical providers. This study is important as it reveals how language brokering is a complex and multidimensional experience that assists in developing advanced communication, linguistic, and problem-solving strategies. This article seeks to broaden this work by taking a qualitative approach to examining how college-age language brokers reflect upon prior brokering experiences and how this experience affected their own language abilities.

There is a need to examine the bilingual effects of language brokering experience using a qualitative lens. Prior qualitative brokering research has documented how age affects feelings reported about prior brokering experiences (Dorner et al., 2008; Orellana & Phoenix, 2017; Shannon, 1990; Villanueva & Buriel, 2010). Young brokers describe their brokering experiences as cumbersome, but beneficial for addressing their family’s needs (Shannon, 1990). Other qualitative studies with adult brokers find more positive ruminations by describing brokering as an experience that increased their maturity and increased language proficiency (Acoach & Webb, 2004; Dorner et al., 2008). Past studies, however, do not explicitly inquire about how language brokering experience may serve as an integral experience that affects bilingual and language abilities. This study addresses this gap in the literature by asking adult language brokers about their bilingual experiences in accordance with their brokering experience.

Overview of This Study

In this descriptive qualitative study, we explored how bilingual young adults with early brokering experience perceive the outcomes of this experience on dimensions such as contexts of brokering, language abilities, metalinguistic awareness, and problem-solving strategies while translating and interpreting informally. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 Latina/o college students who were asked open-ended questions about prior language brokering experience, feelings about brokering, and hindsight questions about linguistic benefits (e.g., language ability, metalinguistic awareness) resulting from brokering experience. In addition, we included a number of questions relating to prior language brokering experiences and bilingualism. The purpose here is to shed light on how college-age language brokers evaluate their past brokering experiences and the potential effects brokering had on their bilingual ability and their own thoughts on their interpretation (e.g., spoken) and translation (e.g., written) strategies (e.g., language knowledge, metalinguistic ability).

Method

Participants

A total of 10 Spanish-English bilinguals (seven females and three males) were recruited from introductory psychology courses. Participants’ names in the study are pseudonyms in order to provide confidentiality of responses. Participant age range was between 18 and 22 years (M = 19.4; SD = 1.51). Three participants identified as Mexican, four as Mexican American, one as Latina/o, one as Hispanic, and one as Panamanian. All but one of the brokers reported being born outside of the United States. Parents of seven of the brokers were born outside of the United States, while three of the participants reported one parent born outside of the United States.

Participants answered questions about their language abilities (e.g., read, write, speak, and understand) in English and Spanish. Ratings were on a scale of 1 to 7 (1 = very little knowledge; 7 = like a native speaker). Table 1 provides a summary of the data. Paired-samples t tests were ran for each of the language abilities per language. Results showed a significant difference between self-rated reading ability in Spanish (M = 5.80; SD = 1.14) and English (M = 6.80; SD = 0.42), t(9) = 2.54, p < .05. Overall, participants rated their English language abilities (M = 6.80; SD = 0.40) higher than their Spanish language abilities, M = 6.13; SD = 0.74; t(9) = 2.25, p < .05. Participants rated their English reading and writing abilities (M = 6.90; SD = 0.32) significantly higher than their Spanish reading and writing abilities, M = 5.30; SD = 1.25; t(9) = 3.75, p < .05. There were no other significant effects for language abilities.

Table 1.

Self-Rated Language Abilities.

	English	Spanish
Speaking	6.70 (0.68)	6.70 (0.85)
Reading	6.80 (0.42)	5.80 (1.14)*
Writing	6.90 (0.32)	5.30 (1.25)*
Comprehension	6.80 (0.42)	6.90 (0.32)

p < .05.

All participants were classified as brokers based on their self-reported frequency and pattern of informal translation experience, as determined from their responses on a detailed language background and brokering questionnaire. Specifically, participants were asked to rate how often they translated for parents, grandparents, or guardians, in which settings (e.g., home, school, work, restaurants), and for what types of materials (e.g., immigration forms, job applications, school notes, homework, doctors’ notes). The 10 brokers also reported that they still engaged in brokering.

Measures

A detailed language questionnaire was used to ask participants questions on language acquisition (i.e., age of acquisition, use of language, language proficiency, etc.) and previous language brokering experiences, such as who they brokered for, what they translated/interpreted, and how often they translated language brokering interview questions. This battery of 20 semistructured interview questions asked participants to reflect upon their previous language brokering experiences (i.e., What can you tell us about your overall experience with language brokering/translating? Did your feelings toward translating/brokering change with time? What kind of strategies would you use when brokering?)

Procedure

Participants first came to the lab and completed an online version of the language background questionnaire.¹ A week after completing the survey, participants were interviewed individually about their prior language brokering experience using questions from the language brokering interview questions. Afterward, participants were debriefed and were able to ask questions about the purpose of the study. Participants received course credit for their participation.

Data Coding and Data Analysis

The first and second authors transcribed participant interviews. Participant responses were examined to assess the key themes: overall language brokering experiences, their beliefs about their brokering experiences, and feelings about the experience. Responses were coded on how participants thought their beliefs of brokering experience affected their language ability, metalinguistic ability, and linguistic benefits to brokering. Although prior brokering and bilingualism literature (e.g., see Morales & Hanson, 2005, for a review) was consulted to determine what kinds of themes to code and examine, grounded theory (Charmaz, 2008) was also incorporated. Grounded theory allows for the analysis of emergent themes within qualitative data analysis. As a result, we also coded responses for themes of empathy, which will be discussed in the next section.

Results

Themes

Context of brokering experiences

Participants answered a series of questions regarding their frequency of language brokering and context of brokering, and were asked to describe their overall brokering experiences. Although all participants indicated that they had engaged in translating and interpreting for parents, grandparents, and other family members, patterns merged in their contexts of brokering. Language brokers can interpret in various domains including written and oral information (Buriel et al., 1998; Kam & Lazarevic, 2014a; Morales & Hanson, 2005). Similarly, brokers interviewed in this study reported interpreting at school (e.g., parent-teacher conferences), restaurants, doctor’s offices, and for strangers and translating mail, bills, and employment forms. Cristina (age 19, female) describes the contexts of her language brokering:

For my dad, it was rare that he went to my school, but when he did I did have to translate sometimes . . . And umm he never took me to the doctor it really was just stores and like when we went out in public and when reading his mail.

Similarly, Roberto (age 20, male) stated,

There have been a couple of times when I had to translate at a Parent/Teacher conference for my dad. My mom knows English fairly well so I generally don’t have to translate for her. If anything it’s my dad. Like I said at a bank, sometimes when we have to pay bills.

Cristina and Roberto both demonstrate how the information they translated involved both written and spoken information. In contrast, Lupita (age 18, female) shared that her translation experience “Didn’t really occur . . . not really at school because at school we would get English and Spanish . . .” Rather, Lupita discusses that her brokering experience involved more media translation as in, “When we were watching TV shows, like English TV shows.” This showcases a different type of language brokering experience, which Katz (2010) finds involves the brokers assisting family members with the translation of media.

Frequency of language brokering

There were differences in frequency of brokering when brokers still lived at home as opposed to now as college students. Juanita (age 18, female) reported on her own brokering frequency, “I guess every time we went out. Maybe twice a day,” while Santiago (age 19, male) reported, “I can say that maybe once every two days or something,” and Lupita reported, “Probably every day,” yet Roberto reported, “Maybe, if I’m back home I would translate at least once a week.” This last quote by Roberto is of interest as it demonstrates that there may be a change in the frequency in the amount of brokering once a broker leaves home (see also Orellana & Phoenix, 2017). In the case of this study, all brokers were college students and many referenced a change in the amount brokering they continued to do as a result of starting college and being away from their family.

Frequency of brokering appeared to vary once brokers were asked if they still engaged in language brokering compared to when they were children or living at home with their parents. Juanita who previously stated brokering several times a day stated that now she translates, “whenever, I go home, for my grandma.” Santiago stated, “I still broker for my parents and if someone asks me or if I see someone having trouble then I’ll go and translate for them, but if I have a job they’ll sometimes need me to translate.” Lupita stated that now she, “Sometimes but not as much. Mostly just my parents, and when we’re out in public places and watching TV.” Roberto discussed how his amount of brokering had changed because he is now a college study, “Every now and then, not as often because I’m in college now. If anything because of income tax has to be done at a certain time, I have to help my dad get his refund this year.” One participant, Valentina (age 22, female), stated that although she no longer translates for her family, she now volunteers at a hospital as a translator. Another participant, Natalia (age 18, female), reported translating for strangers if she sees them in need of help or if others ask her for help. These quotes suggest that the frequency of brokering may begin to decrease as brokers get older or go off to college. Yet a theme that arose during coding suggests that brokering experiences may have other effects, such as increased empathy for others.

Empathy for others

When asked if language brokering experiences made them more aware of their environment, several of the brokers reported being more aware of those needing help around them. This is exemplified in the following quote by Valentina:

Definitely because umm like I can be somewhere and somebody can be like or they’ll be like does anybody speak Spanish and I can be like me and they’ll look at me like you speak Spanish and I’ll be like yes. So people will look at you differently based on what you look like and where you’re from and your language and all of that.

Valentina suggests that her brokering experience made her more likely to help individuals who may be struggling to communicate with someone because they speak different languages. In regards to being more aware of their environment, Santiago stated,

Mmm yes I think so. It’s like something . . . because umm if you are someone who doesn’t know English and it’s uhh it’s made me aware that it’s not so easy to learn a language even though you think it might be. And some people are like oh you can just learn a language, but I guess it’s true and I agree with that but it’s not as easy as you think.

What Santiago suggests here is his awareness that learning a new language may be difficult and assumptions cannot be made in regards to how quickly or easily someone can learn a language. Furthermore, Santiago expresses empathy for those who may not know English or are learning English. Both Valentina and Santiago demonstrate empathetic behaviors due to brokering, such as helping others and showing compassion for someone who may speak a language other than English. This is similar to the work that describes language brokering experience is associated with a sense of helping the family and positive prosocial behaviors (Dorner et al., 2008; Dorner et al., 2007; Guan, Greenfield, & Orellana, 2014; Orellana & Phoenix, 2017). While having these positive effects in prosocial behaviors for the family, language brokering may have other effects on prosocial behaviors (e.g., empathy and helping others) in interactions beyond the family system.

Feelings about language brokering

Extant research on language brokering has focused on how the experience made brokers feel about brokering and the individuals they brokered for (Weisskirch, 2006, 2007; Wu & Kim, 2009). Prior literature has demonstrated both advantageous and disadvantageous effects (Kam, 2011; Kam & Lazarevic, 2014a, 2014b; Rainey, Flores, Morrison, David, & Silton, 2014). When asked to reflect on their previous and current translation experiences, patterns emerged in how brokers reported feeling when they were engaged in brokering the most and how they reflect about brokering now. Take, for example, Roberto, who stated “I generally don’t like to translate, but if I have to I usually do,” then when asked about how brokering made him feel he followed with “Um, generally I would feel good about myself because I know both languages and I could go back and forth between speaking English or Spanish or vice versa.” Similarly, Lorenzo (age 19, male) stated, “I’m not so great at it, I guess. I’m not . . . I mean . . . I can translate but, like, but sometimes I tend to struggle in translating.” Yet, Lorenzo stated that brokering “Feels good at one point because you’re, like, actually helping another person and trying to understand. They’re asking you for help or translating because you’re the only one who knows both of the languages.” Valentina also shared similar thoughts on brokering, “At first it didn’t mean anything when I was younger, but now that I’ve gotten older I realized the importance of trying to help people understand what they’re doing and the daily life things.” Reflecting on the experience now Valentina stated, “It’s made me feel really good about myself because I feel like I’m helping, like I said somebody, not like in the translating way but helpin’ them understand and motivating to umm expand their language as well.”

Other brokers reported brokering was annoying when they first began and that the experience was pressure inducing. Carmen (age 22, female) suggests that brokering was

Kind of a lot of pressure sometimes because it’s just, like, I don’t know how to fully translate this, and, like, there’s some words they’ll say in English, like, Crap, I have to figure out the best Spanish word for this to make it make sense.

However, when reflecting on brokering now, Carmen stated,

No, I guess it makes me, makes me “me.” I’m not . . . because I had to do this for my grandmother and get used to talking to strangers and translating. Now it, like I said, when you see someone at the store that needs help, I’m not more like . . . I’m more like . . . “Okay, I’m going to go help them,” vs. “They can figure it out,” and walk away. It’s made me more like, wanting to help people. Not a burden. It was fine. I mean, normal.

This demonstrates that even if brokering experiences were previously viewed as stressful, that over time or when reflecting back on the experience, brokers do recognize some beneficial socioemotional and self-esteem effects, which prior work also finds (e.g., Dorner et al., 2008; Dorner et al., 2007; Orellana & D’warte, 2010).

Language brokering strategies

Participants described a time when they had difficulty translating—that is when they could not think of how to translate a word or if they did not know how to translate a concept. This question was used to probe the brokers into describing problem-solving strategies implored to resolve difficulties in translation and interpreting. Although all brokers reported encountering some difficulties when translating (e.g., not knowing a word, being embarrassed, not understanding), the way in which brokers resolved potential brokering issues demonstrates some of the metalinguistic benefits to language brokering. Specifically, several participants reported that when they could not think of a particular word in Spanish when translating for their parents, they would often try to pronounce the word in Spanish in hopes that the difficult English word would sound like something in Spanish. The following quote from Lorenzo exemplifies this:

Probably finding like a similarity between the words or, like, trying to make the sentences, like, almost similar, but it’s never going to be the same because either in Spanish it’s going to be longer or in a simpler detailed way.

Santiago also noted similarities across languages:

Well since I mostly translate for my parents when I’m trying to talk in Spanish or whatever but since I need to include something or say in English and I can’t . . . so I’ll say it in English and see if it sounds familiar to them or I’ll ask my sister about that. Sometimes I can’t find words I’ll say umm or I’ll say it like in Spanish like “como.”

This was also echoed by Natalia, who stated,

Well yea some words sound kinda the same in English and in Spanish or there are some words that sound completely different in English and Spanish, but at the same time you can kind of see how I guess the word in Spanish is somehow in the English word so that is something I noticed.

Brokers often made connections between English and Spanish in terms of pronunciation to help alleviate troubles when brokering. Interestingly, these examples also show that brokers may rely on constant navigation between two language structures. This provides some support for previous findings, where brokers compared with nonbrokers were better at activating a nontarget language (e.g., Spanish) when reading and identifying idiomatic meaning of English idioms (López & Vaid, 2018b).

Benefits of brokering

Brokers in our study were asked if they believed their language brokering experiences benefited them in anyway. All but one participant stated that their brokering experiences benefited them in one way or another. Valentina in particular stated that brokering

. . . developed my like I said language vocabulary especially in Spanish because I don’t use it as often so I get used to words that I’m not using medically or just in a daily life compared to being at home.

Juanita pointed to the linguistic benefits of language brokering, stating that the “. . . with my Spanish. It’s helped me understand it more and speak it a little more.” Natalia framed the benefits of brokering more related to school and responsibilities:

Well as far as with school because I would translate for a lot of teachers and a lot of people in the office it gave me more responsibilities. I guess like teachers knew they could count on me to do something for them so it got me a lot I guess a lot of respect with the teachers I guess so yea.

For Santiago, however, a new theme emerged about the benefits of brokering, in regards to language abilities and language learning. He stated,

My own language skills and I mean I guess it’s given me like ohh I like want to . . . like I mean I’m learning a third language right now. I mean like umm it’s given me like a doorway to umm to other languages.

This quote suggests that brokering may provide confidence in broker language abilities and may provide a beneficial experience to heritage language learners to improve their language skills.

Metalinguistic effects of brokering

Prior research finds that brokering experiences enhance first language (L1) maintenance and metalinguistic abilities (Buriel et al., 1998; Valdés, 2003). In this study, when brokers were asked about how they believed their language brokering experiences impacted their language abilities or knowledge about language, many reported noticing phonetic (e.g., sound), semantic, and syntactic similarities. Concerning phonetic properties shared by both languages, Juanita stated, “. . . some words sound alike that I noticed in English and Spanish words sound alike.” Similarly, Natalia shared that

. . . some words sound kinda the same in English and in Spanish or there are some words that sound completely different in English and Spanish but at the same time you can kind of see how I guess the word in Spanish is somehow in the English word so that is something I noticed.

Both of these quotes demonstrate that even though brokers do not explicitly know the linguistic property of phonetic overlap, through their brokering experiences they are able to find similarities across languages.

Participants also found semantic and lexical similarities across the two languages suggesting that sometimes when two words sound similar (as shared above), this facilitated brokering interactions. Roberto exemplifies this in the following quote:

If I can’t think of a word in Spanish, I would think of it in English first, and if I can find a word for that in English then I would just look through my vocabulary in Spanish and see if there’s anything that matches close to that word in English. Then I would just say that word.

Similarly, Santiago stated,

I would sound it [a word] out in English. I mean I would think of it in English, sound it out and kinda in Spanish and go on from there if I didn’t know the word. If not I would just it kinda comes to me I guess.

Santiago suggests that language brokers are utilizing metalinguistic awareness of their two languages to assist in their interpretation of spoken information. Carmen also stated,

Like, certain words I have . . . I will . . . when I’m translating sometimes I don’t know the word, and I will translate it back to English and try to communicate with either my grandmother or someone else and say, “It’s kind of like this,” and they’ll help me figure out the word and I’m like, “Okay.”

Although Carmen and Santiago expressed ways their metalinguistic abilities were heightened by brokering experience, other participants like Lorenzo acknowledged the difficulties also associated with brokering as he mentions in the following: “The meanings of the words are really different. From Spanish to English sometimes one word can be really different even though it means the same thing. It’s really different.” This suggests that even if there are shared semantic and lexical properties of words, there are times when words do not have one-for-one translation.

The close relationship between word and meaning across English and Spanish proved to be both a facilitator and an inhibitor for these brokers. However, another instance of linguistic knowledge found in the study was that of syntactic awareness as demonstrated in the following quotes by Natalia and Lupita. Natalia stated,

Well with sentence structure a lot of times they’re flipped so like the way you say something in English, the way you say it in Spanish you kinda have to switch the phrases so that you kind of make sense as a sentence or the other way around too.

Lupita also noted that word order was “switched” particularly with pronouns, “I would notice, like, pronouns had me really worried or adjectives because the order of the adjectives and words switches in Spanish.” However, for Santiago, this flipped word order affected him more with adjectives as seen in the following quote:

Yeah, I mean the word order is. I think pretty much the same and except for you switch adjectives or nouns or something like that. I don’t remember the exact names for these, there’s only like two parts of the sentences that you switch that is more common.

These quotes while acknowledging the similarities in both languages, point out the syntactical differences between Spanish and English that brokers must account for when translating and interpreting. Interestingly, one participant, Carmen, suggested that translating from one direction (Spanish to English) was easier because “Translating the other way is a little more difficult just because I’ m not familiar with all the vocabulary.” This suggests that although brokers may have knowledge of more than one language and can find similarities/differences between the two, there are still instances where translating may be more difficult. Carmen’s assertion supports earlier findings of Malakoff and Hakuta (1991) who found natural translators reporting more difficulty translating from their first language to their second language, which is the case here (Spanish-English).

Overall, participants demonstrate that although they are heritage speakers of Spanish (learning the language at home and learning another language at school), their brokering experience enhanced their linguistic abilities to facilitate translation and interpretation abilities. In addition, brokering experiences provided these bilinguals with additional opportunities to hone in and develop their language experiences that other heritage language learners and bilinguals may not benefit from.

Discussion

The primary focus of previous research on language brokering has been to investigate the sociocultural and psychological effects of such experiences. Although there has been an increase in work focused on the linguistic and cognitive repercussions of brokering (see López & Vaid, 2018a, 2018b), this study used a descriptive and qualitative approach to examine how bilingual young adult brokers perceived their prior language brokering experiences particularly in the context of brokering experience and feelings toward brokering. This study examined how brokers perceived their brokering experiences and how this relates to their own bilingual abilities, metalinguistic awareness, and their cognitive and linguistic problem-solving while translating and interpreting.

Overall, the findings in this study replicate prior work on the contexts and frequency of brokering experiences with many participants also stating that they translated most frequently for their mother, father, grandparents, or community members. Brokers also reported a variety of contexts of language brokering such as at school and the doctor’s office, and helped translate bills, mail, and bank forms (Morales & Hanson, 2005).

Brokering Feelings and Empathy

Similar to prior research on the feelings toward language brokering, language brokers in our study reported both positive and negative feelings toward the experience (Dorner et al., 2008; Dorner et al., 2007; Villanueva & Buriel, 2010; Weisskirch, 2007). Several participants did not enjoy language brokering, but, if necessary, they would translate or interpret for someone else. Some participants reported that they viewed the act of brokering in childhood as “annoying” or “worrisome.” What is of interest here is that brokers also reported a change in their feelings about brokering with some reporting disliking brokering when they first began, but over time their feelings toward brokering changed (Orellana & Phoenix, 2017; Shannon, 1990). This finding speaks to the diverse emotional responses that are elicited through brokering experiences, which may be indexed by different brokering situations and contexts and the importance for understanding how, when, and why certain brokering instances may provoke more negative or positive feelings.

Brokering work suggests that brokering may be perceived as burdensome for some children (see Wu & Kim, 2009, for a discussion). However, it is important to consider the complexity of thoughts and emotions that language brokering elicits, both at the time a child is brokering and, in later years, when the now-adult broker reflects back on the childhood brokering (Orellana & Phoenix, 2017). As such, practitioners and other professionals should make use of translation resources (e.g., in-person, telephone, or computer-assisted interpretation) in contexts that call for brokering of sensitive content for, at times, brokering of sensitive material (e.g., hospital diagnoses) may be best suited for adult translators with specialized training. This is consistent with past studies that have explored brokering contexts as being potentially distressing to children (i.e., communicating medical diagnoses; Rainey et al., 2014). These scenarios may be stressful because of the convoluted language translation that is required in legal and health care settings, as well as the stressful nature of communicating potentially harmful situation or diagnosis to loved ones.

An unexpected theme that arose from various brokering responses was empathy for others. Two individuals, Valentina and Santiago, mentioned that when out in public if they witness an individual having trouble communicating with someone they voluntarily step in to help. Thus, a potential benefit to prior brokering experiences may be greater empathy for others. This finding is in line with prior research finding that brokering experiences lead to increased prosocial behavior (Guan et al., 2014). Yet, future research may consider examining how brokering experiences may affect empathy in conjunction with prosocial behaviors.

Brokering Benefits and Metalinguistic Benefits

This study extends prior language brokering literature by also examining the variety of linguistic benefits of brokering as described by brokers themselves. Our brokers reported several benefits resulting from their experiences from confidence and respect from teachers to linguistic and metalinguistic brokering benefits. These results suggest that brokering experiences, while at times may be difficult emotionally, do offer some beneficial outcomes. As demonstrated by our brokers, Natalia mentioned that because she often had to broker at school, she was held in high regard by teachers and school officials. Although brokering experiences particularly for women may be another sign of invisible labor, when Natalia’s labor was recognized by school officials, this might signal for others the value in brokering. In the future, research could focus on the perceptions of teachers and school officials of students who engage in this experience and their beliefs of brokering experiences on student outcomes (e.g., academic achievement, career, college, etc.). This type of work would have implications for the ways in which brokering experiences are conceptualized in educational settings in terms of extramural educational experiences and giftedness (see also Valdés, 2003, for a discussion).

Our study also broadens prior work on feelings associated with brokering experiences. Specifically, this work examined the cognitive aspects of bilingualism and brokering. Brokers reported that brokering had an important impact on their bilingualism abilities. This was supported as respondents noted phonological, semantic, syntactic, and orthographic similarities between Spanish and English, which facilitated the translation and interpretation process. Participants discussed how Spanish and English words with similar pronunciations facilitated complex translations. This establishes prior language brokering experience as beneficial for bilingual processing, where Spanish-English Latina/o bilingual brokers are better able to contemplate about their two languages in more sophisticated ways than those who potentially do not engage in brokering. Our work finds that brokering experience may enhance a bilingual’s ability to navigate across language structures and may lead to a more unified mental representation of their two languages, which coincides with the prior work of López and Vaid (2018a, 2018b).

Language brokering experience is associated with maintenance of the first language (Buriel et al., 1998; Valdés, 2003). Our results reaffirmed this notion as our respondents mentioned that brokering experiences helped in maintaining their Spanish proficiency as well as assisting in learning vocabulary and acquiring a new language. The experience of translating and interpreting information from one language to another appears to help in maintenance of a minority language (i.e., Spanish), while acquiring a dominant language (i.e., English). Language brokers translate and interpret written and oral information from their first language to the dominant language and, although their schooling language may be English, these extracurricular brokering activities offer distinct opportunities to revitalize their language abilities that may otherwise not be offered in a typical classroom (Valdés, 2003). Furthermore, it is important for researchers and educators to consider ways in which brokering experiences facilitate language acquisition and maintenance for minority language students.

Language brokering may provide real-world training in language awareness. Prior language brokering experiences may enhance bilinguals’ abilities to think about language as evidenced by our participants’ ability to think about the pronunciation, lexical, and semantic similarities across both languages while brokering. Language brokering experience also provides an informal language training experience that is not available in school curriculums (Orellana & D’warte, 2010; Valdés, 2003). Similar to Valdés’ (2003) study demonstrating that brokers had sophisticated translation abilities, this study found that brokers are cognizant of their own metalinguistic abilities and benefits to brokering. As such, it is important to recognize the advantageous effects of language brokering as a unique skill acquired outside of the traditional classroom that may have implications for other aspects of education not otherwise noted.

Brokering Problem-Solving Strategies

A unique contribution of our study is demonstrating that brokering experiences may provide a unique opportunity for developing problem-solving strategies. This study demonstrates that while translating/interpreting, brokers do encounter problems that rely on quick decision-making. Although most of the examples provided by brokers were linguistic, this stresses the importance for future research on brokering to examine brokering effects on the problem-solving ability. Importantly, brokering experiences may affect nonlinguistic cognitive abilities, such as problem-solving and decision-making as brokers must make decisions in regards to how to correctly translate written and spoken information, the delivery of the message, and the emotion expressed while delivering the message. As this study highlights linguistic brokering strategies, future work should consider examining other forms of language brokering abilities (e.g., communication, socioemotional, conflict management, etc).

Implications

The field of language brokering has expanded, thanks to the contributions of researchers in the social sciences, education, and policy domains (see Dorner et al., 2008; Morales & Hanson, 2005 for a review; Weisskirch, 2017). A more comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon can lead to better resources for families and individuals that engage in brokering as well as individuals who work with brokers and their families. Stakeholders can develop Latinx specific programs that emphasize the benefits of expressing positive views on brokering and its relevance for maintaining a heritage language and enhancing cognitive development. Future work in this area should seek to understand how language brokering experiences impact other aspects of the broker’s lived experience, such as linguistic and cognitive processes. Scholars can also work toward this goal by developing mixed-methods studies that provide both qualitative and quantitative data in this area. In doing so, brokering work can continue to inform culturally competent education and health care policy. The implications of this line of work would allow educators and policymakers to make more informed decisions about language brokering and its applications in medical, governmental, and educational settings.

Language brokering helps bridge the language barrier between two parties by aiding in the delivery and acquisition of information. Therefore, language brokering holds an important role for immigrant families in their immediate and future well-being. However, the responsibility of brokering may prove to be overwhelming for some child and adolescent brokers (Kim, Hou, Shen, & Zhang, 2017; Wu & Kim, 2009). It is important that practitioners and educators in settings where child and adolescent brokering takes place develop research-informed programs that acknowledge the benefits of language brokering and the potential confounding impact of burdening underaged brokers with challenging content (e.g., communicating results of a cancer screening). More importantly, as researchers and practitioners, we should continue to advocate for the creation of practices that integrate the findings of language brokering research in order to better assist the on-the-fly instances of brokering that traditionally characterize schools and hospitals with Latinx clientele.

Limitations

As this was a preliminary study, there were some limitations. The uneven number of males and females in our sample could explain why more positive than negative feedback about language brokering experiences was obtained. Our male sample typically gave more negative responses, while our female respondents gave more positive responses. We attribute this to traditional gender roles in the Latina/o community. Normally, Latinas are called upon to uphold traditional gender roles (e.g., marianismo; Castillo, Perez, Castillo, & Ghosheh, 2010). It could be that brokering is viewed as a gendered activity, where it is expected more of female children over males. As such, future research on the gendered aspects of language brokering is crucial.

Another possible limitation could be the small sample size as there were only 10 participants all of Latina/o heritage, which limits the generalizability of this study to only brokers of Latinx and Spanish-English bilingual backgrounds. Future research should include larger group samples and should compare the experiences of brokers from different cultural groups (e.g., Latinxs with Asian heritage groups). The recruitment of individuals from various backgrounds other than Latinx who also engage in language brokering would also enhance insights into what is generalizable and what is culture -specific about the experience of language brokering.

Conclusion

This is a descriptive qualitative study interested in investigating the perceived outcomes of brokering on language abilities, metalinguistic awareness, and problem-solving while translating and interpreting informally. From a series of semistructured interviews with Latina/o brokers, we found that prior language brokering experience is related to positive beliefs about brokering and bilingualism. Latina/o brokers suggested that brokering enhanced bilingual abilities and metalinguistic awareness. Although this work is exploratory, it is clear that language brokering experiences have long-term outcomes. These findings add to the present and expanding literature on the multifaceted effects of prior language brokering experience.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Seiri Aragón and Dr. Jyotsna Vaid for their comments on previous drafts.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was supported by Summer Research Award granted to B.G.L. by the College of Liberal Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. This project was also supported by a 2019-20 Ford Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Notes

Author Biographies

Belem G. López, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Mexican American & Latina/o Studies at The University of Texas at Austin with courtesy appointments in the Departments of Spanish and Portuguese and Psychology. She is also a faculty affiliate in the Center for Mexican American Studies and Latino Research Institute. Her research focuses on the effects of bilingualism and language brokering on language and cognitive processing as well as health literacy, creativity, figurative language, and decision-making.

Esteffania Lezama, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in private practice in Dallas, TX. She provides psychotherapy in English and Spanish and psychological assessments for children, adolescents, and adults.

Dagoberto Heredia, Jr., PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow in primary care psychology and transgender health at the Mayo Clinic. He has worked with LGBTQ and Spanish-speaking Latinx communities and his research interests include evaluation of treatment outcomes for cognitive behavioral therapy programs in primary care, health, Latinx, and LGBTQ psychology.

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