Child language brokering in healthcare settings

Abstract

This chapter focuses on non-professional interpreting and translation performed by children from migrant backgrounds, between healthcare providers who speak the host country's language(s), and their own families and/or communities who may lack the necessary proficiency in these language(s). We will first offer a definition of this type of interpreting and translation, called Child Language Brokering (henceforth, CLB) in general (Section 1). We will then review the legal frameworks (Section 2) and the literature on CLB, specifically within the healthcare sector (Section 3). Finally, before reflecting on future directions, we will present some of the findings of our own research on CLB in Italy, with special reference to healthcare (Section 4).

Children and teenagers acting as language brokers: The perception of teachers at secondary schools

“…According to Antonini's (2010; and Orellana's (2017) reviews of the state of the art in CLB, while research on CLB has been growing, studies have mainly taken place in the USA, with research focusing on CLB performed by members of Hispanic communities (see, for instance, literature reviews by Morales & Hanson 2005;Valdés 2003). In Europe, there are some groups and scholars researching CLB, but the number of studies is still comparatively low.…”

“…In Europe, there are some groups and scholars researching CLB, but the number of studies is still comparatively low. In the UK, there are pioneering studies led by members of the Thomas Coram Research Unit 7 (Cline et al 2010;Crafter, Cline & Prokopiou 2017) and in Italy there is a noteworthy project, InMedIO PUER, based on qualitative research (Antonini 2010(Antonini , 2017Cirillo, Torresi & Valentini 2010;Cirillo 2017;Torresi 2017). In Spain, the most outstanding contributions on this topic are García-Sánchez (2010) and Pena-Díaz (2019), while Foulquié-Rubio (2015) partially addresses this issue.…”

“…This idea is also sustained by Orellana (2009:124), who points out that children's translation activities have a "measurable economic impact", since "child language brokers help make it possible for their parents to live, eat, shop and otherwise sustain themselves as workers, citizens and consumers in the host society". Therefore, these children and teenagers not only make a significant contribution to the economic and social life of their families, but also to the institutions that allow this practice (Hall & Sham 2007;Antonini 2015).…”

“…Regarding the impact on children and young family members who perform CLB, studies show contradictory findings: some suggest that it can cause stress and be a burden on some children and teenagers, while others suggest that the language brokers can find it enjoyable or rewarding (cf. Antonini 2010;Cline et al 2010, for an exhaustive review on this topic). For instance, Hall & Sham (2007), in a study conducted in England, found that language brokerage by Chinese children sometimes resulted in anxiety, especially when they had to face difficult situations.…”

intermediación lingüística por parte de menores (ILM) desde la perspectiva de los progenitores

“…La ILM es una forma de comunicación compleja en la que intervienen, como mínimo, tres participantes: una persona adulta con competencia limitada en la lengua de acogida (normalmente suele ser uno de los dos progenitores, aunque también podrían ser otros miembros de la misma comunidad); un proveedor de servicios (personal médico, de servicios sociales, profesorado, etcétera) y un menor con ciertos conocimientos tanto de la lengua de herencia (heritage language) como de la lengua de acogida, aunque no siempre totalmente bilingüe. La perspectiva de los menores es quizás la que se ha explorado en mayor medida en la investigación previa, ya sea a través de entrevistas retrospectivas a jóvenes mayores de edad que habían ejercido la ILM (Angelelli, 2016; Arumí y Rubio-Carbonero, 2022; Bucaria y Rossato, 2010, entre otros), cuestionarios (Angelelli, 2017;Cirillo, 2017;Crafter et al, 2017) u otras metodologías, como pueden ser las narrativas de los menores expuestas en redacciones (Antonini, 2017) o el análisis semiótico de dibujos realizados por los niños y niñas que asumen esta tarea (Torresi, 2017). La perspectiva institucional también ha quedado bien reflejada, sobre todo en estudios mediante cuestionarios a proveedores de servicios, como observamos en Cline et al (2014), Crafter et al (2017), Foulquié Rubio (2015 u Orozco-Jutorán y Vargas-Urpí (2022).…”