ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that research has made substantial progress in the understanding of language brokering. Language brokering is defined as the adolescent being the family interpreter and translator for documents, as well as the family expert for the new culture. Most of the research on language brokering and family processes in immigrant families is conducted in North America, where, for example, about 90% of all studies on the acculturation gap originate. The expected psycho-social outcomes of language brokering depend on the theoretical perspective taken. Theory and research on adolescents’ civic engagement should, therefore, include measures of family support in order to accurately assess immigrant adolescents’ societal contributions to the adaptation of their immigrant families. Language brokering frequency predicted higher levels of internalizing problems, which supported the general notion of language brokering being a risk rather than a promotive factor for adolescents’ development. Results showed that variables related to family interactions contributed to the prediction of inter-individual differences in language brokering.
