Communicating for One’s Family: An Interdisciplinary Review of Language and Cultural Brokering in Immigrant Families

Abstract

Although language and cultural brokering is important for immigrant families, this behavior may have both positive and negative consequences for the well-being of young brokers and their family members. Few communication studies, however, have examined brokering in relation to the well-being of immigrant families, despite its prevalence in the United States and elsewhere. Thus, this chapter offers an interdisciplinary review of the brokering literature, identifies four primary perspectives on the well-being of young brokers, offers a unified theoretical model that represents past brokering research (while noting critical concerns that warrant future investigation), and concludes with implications for communication research.