The Influence of Language Brokering on Hispanic Teenagers' Acculturation, Academic Performance, and Nonverbal Decoding Skills: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

This study replicates and extends R. Buriel, W. Perez, T. L. De Ment, D. V. Chavez, and V. R. Moran's (1998) study to assess the influence of language brokering on acculturation, biculturalism, and nonverbal decoding in U.S. culture as well as the subsequent influence of these variables on academic self-efficacy and grade point average. Bilingual Hispanic teenagers attending U.S. public schools (N = 89) completed written and video questionnaires. The analyses revealed relationships between language brokering, acculturation, biculturalism, academic self-efficacy, and grade point averages for the junior high school participants as well as relationships between language brokering, academic self-efficacy, and grade point average for the senior high school participants. Analyses yielded no significant results related to nonverbal decoding in U.S. culture.

Keywords:

• language brokering
• nonverbal decoding skill
• Hispanic adolescents
• academic performance
• acculturation
• biculturalism

This manuscript is based on the MA of C. Leah Acoach, directed by Lynne M. Webb. We thank Dr. Patricia Amason and Dr. Stephen A. Smith who also served on Ms. Acoach's thesis committee as well as two anonymous reviewers; the thoughtful suggestions of these four individuals significantly improved the essay. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the National Communication Association, November 22, 2002, New Orleans, LA.

Notes

*p ≤ .001.

*p ≤ .05. **p ≤ .01.