Child language brokering in linguistic minority communities: Effects on cultural interaction, cognition, and literacy

Abstract

Socio‐cultural views of learning suggest that the acquisition and display of knowledge is context dependent. This study examines the contexts of cultural interaction and the development of cognition and language among linguistic minority (LM) children who ‘brokered’ for their limited English speaking parents. Unlike formal translators, language brokers mediate rather than merely transmit information among the parties involved. Nine subjects who brokered for their parents as children were interviewed to determine the effects of brokering. Brokers reported increased first and second language acquisition, comprehension of L2 texts far above their grade level, and assumption of parental duties in regards to their schooling and other functions. The results are discussed in terms of current theories of learning as well as possible implications for the schooling of LM students.