Language brokering
[4] Perhaps, this is somewhat surprising considering the legal rights of many minority language users across the globe, wherein they are assured access to information through their native language via professional interpreting services,[5][6] Often professional services are inaccessible[7] because children are so readily available that they become ad hoc interpreters frequent.
Research around language brokering practices in bilingual children began in the late 1970s, looking at the process of natural translation.
[6] During these early studies much work would be done to establish a generalized social and cognitive profile for language brokers.
More recent work has shifted to look at the practice of language brokering through a more holistic framework across multiple fields.
Uniquely, brokers must integrate two very separate worlds: one in which they are a child growing up and engaging in play with other children following typical development patterns, and another, in which they must assume adult-like responsibilities such as intercultural mediation.
[29] Primary-aged children report more carefree and willing responses toward their roles as brokers within the family and convey more complex and negative emotions as they get older.
[31] For example, in the context of high discrimination, where the children receive more negative feedback, they might think they are not good at translating and feel less successful at performing language brokering tasks.
[32] Negative feelings are usually associated with the fear of making mistakes when using either language(s), such as misunderstanding or mistranslating, or the fact that often they translate for people they love and having to situate themselves within sensitive issues (e.g., health-related, legal-related, etc.).
Because parents of minority cultures, such as migrants, may be less aware of the inner workings of the education system in their new environment, they are less prepared and have fewer resources to support their children's academic endeavors,[45] which can result in less motivated and underprepared students.
Family members, educators, and mental health professionals need to become more aware of the consequences of language brokering duties, particularly for preadolescent children, who are most at risk for psychoemotional and cognitive divergence.
The main character, Ruby Rossi (played by Emilia Jones) is seen interpreting for her deaf parents at a medical appointment where they describe their intimate bedroom behaviors in grave detail, scarring the child while also portraying the parents as people who neither respect nor comprehend appropriate social boundaries.
There is also a need for a more critical evaluation of the real-world phenomenon of language brokering not as "good" or "bad," but rather "as it is (happening).
