Children Language Brokering

The Child Language Brokering (CLB) initiative focused on the mitigation, through training workshops, of the negative psychological impacts of CLB on the immigrant youth who perform the role of broker. Through this initiative, we obtained a clearer understanding of the CLB phenomenon in Calgary and increased awareness of the practice in newcomer families, settlement staff, community partners and stakeholders. CLB also produced toolkits and materials for settlement professionals and newcomer families.

Project Information

What is Child Language Brokering (CLB)?

CLB is the practice of non-English speaking parents using their children as translators or interpreters in formal and complex situations.

What were the aims of the CLB Initiative?

The CLB Initiative aimed to:

• Gather knowledge to help inform future decisions made by program developers and policymakers.
• Equip immigrant parents and their children with tools to mitigate the negative aspects of CLB and maximize the positive ones.

Why is this important?

Often overlooked in studies and programming within Canadian integration contexts is how youth and children are agents of linguistic integration for their parents who lack English proficiency. This very common practice is referred to as child language brokering (CLB) and is prevalent among immigrant families (Tse, 1995). While common, it comes with emotional wellness caveats that must be managed through awareness and programming to overcome possible negative psycho-social impacts on participating youth.

Research on CLB shows that playing the role of translator or interpreter can negatively impact immigrant childrens’ emotional wellness and relationships with their parents. For example, language brokers (LBs) have higher levels of anxiety and depression as emerging adults (Rainey et al., 2014) and CLB activities result in poorer psychological health for adolescents who held strong family obligations (Hua & Costigan, 2012). Children who perform CLB also perceived their parents to be highly psychologically controlling, with increased parent-child conflict (Hua & Costigan, 2012). According to Alvarez (2017), CLB duties compel youth to prematurely grow up, but this negative consequence is less intense than what the overall literature conveys. ​​LBs may also experience increased stress in being placed in uncomfortable, and yet critical ‘adult’ situations (Rainey et al., 2014; Weisskirch & Alva, 2002). When the intergenerational gap in acculturation between parents and children is wide, there are conflicts over cultural values and attitudes, which may override the positive impacts of CLB with negative outcomes (Ying & Han, 2007).

Indeed, there is significant research pointing to key educational benefits of CLB when the aforementioned issues are managed. Exposure to adult-like responsibilities of LBs can encourage and strengthen personal empowerment, self-efficacy, and bilingualism (Orellana et al., 2003; McQuillan & Tse, 1995; Shannon, 1990; Weisskirch, 2013; Cila & Lalonde, 2015). Niehaus and Kumpiene (2014) indicate that successful brokering in complex situations may help increase students’ confidence in their abilities to master a variety of difficult tasks, including academic tasks in the classroom. Lee et al. (2011) show that CLB events enable second language learners to gain access to critical information in complex learning contexts. They also position CLB children as being more ‘able’ in relation to non-LB students. The frequency that CLB is used by new immigrants, along with its potential negative and positive outcomes demonstrate the importance of knowledge building and intervention methods to enhance advantages and decrease disadvantages.

There are limited Canadian studies specifically focusing on CLB, and no programming focusing on mitigating this otherwise common practice. Upon conducting our literature scan, TIES held an exploratory focus group with three immigrant English learning parents (benchmark 2-3). The purpose of the focus group was to learn how they navigate everyday situations and their overall involvement in their children’s education. We learned that parents are reliant on their children for “small things”, such as English language correction, completing forms, grocery shopping, and interactions with social workers. TIES students’ children are thus being actively used as brokers without their parents always realizing what impacts this practice may have.

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Research Overview

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Research Questions

• What are newcomer families’ experiences of CLB?
• What are the factors that help, hinder, and are desirable for successful CLB?
• How can CLB be used as a positive acculturative tool among newcomer families?

Methods

The CLB initiative was carried out in two stages. The knowledge-building portion of this initiative focused on developing CLB as a tool for learning with strategies to mitigate the stress and anxiety imposed on youths. Then, a pilot project tested a new intervention utilizing language brokering as a tool for learning to maximize positive impacts.

Knowledge Building Stage

Distributed 314 English, 15 French and 28 Arabic surveys to students attending programs at TIES.

Conducted 26 (10 English, 10 Arabic, 6 French) interviews with LBs and their parents (5 parents and 5 children).

Intervention Stage

Conducted a workshop to LINC teachers and settlement staff from two Calgary organizations.

• Teaching material was tested on over 200 newcomers.

Conducted a workshop with 38 individuals from newcomer family groups and parent-child dyads.

• In the workshops, participants learned strategies for managing the benefits and risks of CLB.

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Key Findings

Some of the helpful factors that helped the success of the CLB situation between parent and child include:

• Cooperation and effective communication within the family
• Encouragement from parents
• High first and English language proficiency

Some factors that hindered the success of the language brokering situation for both parents and children include:

• Time constraints resulting in a child language broker’s lack of preparation or lack of familiarity with contextual terms in either their first or second language
• Lack of teamwork between parent and child
• Negative thoughts and emotions
• Poor first and English language proficiency

Some factors that are desirable for the success of Child Language Brokering include:

• Better English language proficiency
• First language maintenance and proficiency
• Better relationship between parent and child
• Acceptance/normalization of CLB responsibility
• Access to supports, especially in specialized fields where certain contextual knowledge will be required

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