Language brokering is a term used to describe the translation and interpretation provided by bilingual children for their immigrant parents with limited English proficiency. Although language brokering is very common in first- and second-generation immigrant youth, its developmental effects are not well understood. One line of research in the ARC lab investigates the benefits and detriments of adolescent language brokering for their socioemotional, behavioral, and academic development.

Publications

Shen, Y., Seo, E., Dickie, D. C., & Kim, S. Y. (Accepted / In Press). Stress of Language Brokering and Mexican American Adolescents’ Adjustment: The Role of Cumulative Risk. Journal of Early Adolescence.

Sim, L., Kim, S. Y., Zhang, M., & Shen, Y. (Accepted / In Press). Parenting and centrality: The role of life meaning as a mediator for parenting and language broker role identity. Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Shen, Y., Kim, S. Y., & Benner, A. D. (Accepted / In Press). Burdened or efficacious? Subgroups of Chinese American language brokers, predictors, and long-term outcomes. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. and long-term outcomes. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. doi: 10.1007/s10964-018-0916-4

Shen, Y., Seo, E., Hu, Y., & Zhang, M. (Accepted / In Press). Measurement invariance of language brokering extent and attitudes in linguistic minority adolescents: Item response theory analyses. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. doi: 10.1037/cdp0000224

Kim, S. Y., Hou, Y., Shen, Y., & Zhang, M. (2017). Longitudinal measurement equivalence of subjective language brokering experiences scale in Mexican American adolescents. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. 23(2), 230–243. doi: 10.1037/cdp0000117

Shen, Y., Tilton, K., & Kim, S. Y. (2017). Outcomes of language brokering, mediators, and moderators: A systematic review. In R. S. Weisskirch (Ed.), Language brokering in immigrant families: Theories and contexts. New York, NY: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.