The immigrant
population in the U.S. continues to grow, from 11.1% in 2000 to 12.9% in 2010,
accounting for a population growth of 8.9 million people in the most recent
census. This rise in foreign-born citizens implies an increase in the number of
childhood language brokers because the brokering practice is inherent in
immigrant culture. While the body of research on bilingual individuals is vast,
there has been very little attention given to this subgroup of the bilingual
population, language brokers, who translate frequently for their non-English
speaking family members and friends. This topic is a fairly new area of study,
as much research had not emerged until the mid-1990s. Language brokering is
understood as an extension of bilingualism. While bilingualism is concentrated
around the ability to understand and speak two different languages, language brokering
refers to the ability to translate and interpret materials or conversations.
Much of the past research on bilingual individuals has examined the differences
in executive function between monolinguals and bilinguals. Executive function
(EF) refers to higher order cognitive skills that are comprised of a network of
processes that work distinctly yet concurrently to facilitate individuals shifting
between tasks or cognitive sets, inhibiting dominant responses, and manipulating
as well as updating information in working memory. It has been hypothesized
that bilinguals have an advantage in EF over monolinguals because they are
constantly employing the executive control system in order to monitor two
languages and maintain attention to the target language. The EF advantage has
not, however, been investigated in language brokers.
A study by graduate student Valerie Flores seeks to explore how language
brokering practices relate to EF using electroencephalography (EEG) methods in
order to investigate the time course of EF processes. There are three primary brainwave
components implicated in inhibition and shifting: N200, P300, and N450. These
waveforms take place at approximately 200, 300, and 450 milliseconds after a
stimulus is presented, and the N or P preceding each event-related potential
(ERP) component denotes whether they are negative- or positive- going
brainwaves. The N200 reflects conflict monitoring, in which the brain is
detecting whether conflicting information is present that may require
inhibition. The P300 is typically elicited in tasks that require stimulus
discrimination or that entail inhibiting an automatic, pre-learned response.
The N450 is thought to reflect shifting cognitive sets, in which an individual must
select the correct response when competing responses are concurrently active.
Participants in the study were categorized as either active language
brokers or non-brokers based on a survey where they were asked to report their
brokering experiences. Following this, participants were invited into the lab
to complete a series of computerized cognitive tasks while their brainwaves were
recorded using electroencephalography (EEG) methods. One of the tasks that
participants were asked to complete was the Color-Word Stroop task, which is
used as a measure of two executive functions – inhibition and shifting. In this
task, participants are asked to name the ink color of a color word, such as
YELLOW. They perform congruent blocks, incongruent blocks, and mixed blocks
(i.e., congruent and incongruent trials in same block). In the congruent
trials, the ink color and the word are the same. In the incongruent trials, the
ink color and the word are different. It is at this point that inhibition
becomes necessary because participants must inhibit the automatic response to
read the word and focus instead on the ink color. When a box is presented
around the word, the rules are reversed, thus measuring the participant’s
ability to shift cognitive sets.
While the study is ongoing, preliminary results have shown significant
differences between the active language brokers and non-broker in the N200
component, where participants were detecting conflicting information that is
present. The brokers had steeper amplitudes, initially recruiting more attentional
resources. However, when it came to detecting conflict, language brokers
required less effort to switch between more automatic processes (i.e., word
reading) and inhibitory processes (i.e., identifying ink colors). Therefore, it
can be inferred that language brokers may have developed a more automatic “switch”
mechanism to monitor conflicting information more effectively.
Another benefit that has been found to being a language broker is in
acculturation. A study conducted by Weisskirch et al. sought to explore the
differences between active language brokers and non-brokers in terms of
acculturation, ethnic socialization, and ethnic identity. Participants were
recruited from 14 universities around the U.S., and completed surveys assessing
their language brokering experiences, as well as their levels of acculturation,
acculturative stress, ethnic socialization and identity, and cultural values.
The study reported significant differences between the active language
brokers and non-brokers in cultural heritage values, ethnic identity, and levels
of acculturation, with active language brokers scoring higher. Active
language brokers reported a greater preservation of their heritage culture
compared to non-brokers. Furthermore, the practice was found to be a
contributor to the acculturation process. Individuals who broker are forced to
not only learn the language more quickly but also the cultural contexts that
are present in everyday social exchanges. Therefore, they have more exposure to
the American culture and are able to acculturate more quickly. While there is still
much research to be done with this population, there seem to be great benefits
to serving as a language broker.
Weisskirch, R. S., Kim, S. Y., Zamboanga, B. L.,
Schwartz, S. J., Bersamin, M., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2011). Cultural
influences for college student language brokers. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 17 (1), 43-51.
doi: 10.1037/a0021665
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