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First published in Journal of World Languages, 2025, published by De Gruyter and FLTRP. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jwl-2025-0007

Document Type

Article

Publication Version

Published Version

Keywords

emerging adulthood, language brokering, Latino families, Spanish in the Midwest

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Journal of World Languages

First Page

1

Last Page

28

Abstract

In immigrant families, bilingual children and adolescents regularly act as translators and interpreters for family and community members who are not fluent in the dominant language. These childhood language brokers later shift the focus of their translation activities as they transition into adulthood and develop professional skills. This research explores narratives of language brokering trajectories of three bilingual Latinas who were emerging adult professionals in three cities in Iowa. Based on a series of interviews collected over a 15 month period, this analysis examines how participants described realigning their family language responsibilities while simultaneously transferring their language brokering skills to professional settings in their nascent careers in education and social services. Findings indicate that not only do participants continue to engage in complex family language brokering and other kinds of care work, but they also deepen their empathy for and commitment to Spanish-speakers in professional settings.

Department

Department of Languages and Literatures

Original Publication Date

5-8-2025

Object Description

1 PDF File

DOI of published version

10.1515/jwl-2025-0007

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Copyright

©2025 The Author(s)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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