title: Cultural influences for college student language brokers.
abstract: Children from immigrant families often translate communication for parents, a process known as language brokering (LB). LB begins in childhood, but may continue through emerging adulthood, even when individuals are in college. We surveyed 1,222 university students with two immigrant parents and compared non-language brokers, infrequent language brokers, and frequent language brokers on a variety of ethnic, cultural, and identity measures. Significant differences emerged for cultural heritage value orientation, ethnic identity, and dimensions of acculturation with frequent language brokers scoring highest, infrequent language brokers scoring in the middle, and non-language brokers scoring the lowest on these measures. There were no significant differences on acculturative stress among these three groups. These results suggest that LB experiences may contribute to the development of psychological assets for ethnic minority, emerging adults from immigrant families.
authors.affiliation: Department of Liberal Studies.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Weisskirch
authors.affiliation: School of Human Ecology, University of Texas-Austin.
authors.forename: Su Yeong
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Smith College.
authors.forename: Byron L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Zamboanga
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Miami.
authors.forename: Seth J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Development, Sacramento State University.
authors.forename: Melina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bersamin
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University.
authors.forename: Adriana J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Umaña-Taylor
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept; D012933:Social Identification; D012945:Social Values; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014175:Translating; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult