Recording Voices: Stories of Asian Pacific American Youth as Language Brokers in NYC (2008)

Immigrant communities and communities of color often struggle with accessing public services in New York City. These struggles are magnified in the Asian Pacific American community because of language barriers. Limited English proficient parents are frequently forced to rely on children and youth in order to navigate through the vital health, education, and human service systems of New York City. This means that language barriers affect not only limited English proficient parents but also their children. These children and youth, who have the burden of translating and interpreting for their families, are called language brokers.

Language brokering is not merely the ability to speak two languages. Language brokering means that bilingual youth are translating and interpreting in daily situations without any special training and are bridging between the home culture and American culture. The role of youth in connecting their limited English proficient parents to the outside world extends beyond communicating the information verbatim. Youth often influence the content and messages presented. Parents rely on this information to make family decisions or assign the decision-making responsibility on the youth themselves. While language brokering is common in immigrant families, native-born individuals who have not mastered English or who lack the confidence in their language skills may also rely on their children to broker communication if a   situation exceeds their English proficiency. 

Of all racial groups in New York City, Asian Pacific Americans have the highest percentage (28%)  to live in linguistically isolated households. Linguistic isolation means that no one over the age of 14 in a household speaks English well. Approximately 35% of Asian Pacific American children (less than18 years of age) live in linguistically isolated households. Children in these linguistically isolated families are often the first to attend school in the United States and to receive daily exposure to the English language, so they become responsible for bridging communication between the home and institutions outside the household. While there is research on linguistic isolation, current research does not provide a clear picture of the impact of language brokering on the Asian Pacific American community. Limited research has been conducted on the individuals assisted by the youth, the materials translated, the conversations interpreted, and the emotional impact on youth and their families. 

The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) initiated this study to capture the experiences of language brokers from a pan-Asian perspective in New York City. CACF chose to focus primarily on the health and education systems in this study because 1) Asian Pacific American families have high interactions with these systems and 2) these systems can help to improve the well-being of Asian Pacific American families. 

This policy brief:  

• Assesses the frequency, materials, and situations of language brokering by Asian  Pacific American youth. 

• Explores the impact of language brokering on Asian Pacific American youth and parents. 

• Examines language brokering from the perspective of community based  providers. 

• Provides recommendations to increase support to Asian Pacific American youth.