Research Project
Children and Adolescents as Language Brokers
There are many families in which, and for a variety of reasons, adults are unable to speak or read the majority language of the community in which they live. In such circumstances the responsibility for mediating social transactions involving speech, writing or signing often falls upon children. As a result, these children often find themselves with major responsibilities for the social, administrative and economic lives of their families. This mediating activity has become widely known as language brokering.