Language Brokers in Immigrant Families From Bosnia-Herzegovina: Connecting Family and Community Literacy Practices

• In Event: Expanding Notions of Family Literacy Across Time and Communities

Abstract

Language brokering is a socially constructed practice where brokers engage in multiple literacy practices by translating and interpreting, which often vary according to time and space, and entail relations of power (Street 1984; Street, 2003). This presentation reports a study of six adult Bosnian-Americans who self-identify as language brokers in their immigrant families. The following research question was investigated: How do language brokers in families from Bosnia-Herzegovina negotiate literacy practices in home and community contexts, with different audiences, and under various dynamics of power relations?
Critical and sociocultural literacy informs this study by providing a framework for considering how literacy practices are negotiated in home and community contexts. Specifically, a critical approach highlights how language brokers negotiate literacies with and for their family members, which involves engaging different audiences under various dynamics of power relations. Data was collected in the form of semi-structured interviews (Creswell et al., 2007) and analyzed using thematic analysis (Adams et al., 2007). Specifically, Braun and Clarke’s (2006) guidelines for thematic analysis focus on (1) familiarizing oneself with data, (2) generating initial codes, (3) reading through each transcript to foster immersion in the data, (4) reviewing themes, (5) defining and naming themes, and (6) producing the report. Findings highlight that language brokers in refugee immigrant families from Bosnia-Herzegovina use bilingual practices to negotiate literacies between their family members and those in the community; these bilingual practices entail advising, translating, and interpreting between family and community members. While using bilingual practices to negotiate literacies, language brokers are also motivated to protect their family members from marginalization which often occurs as a result of specific dynamics of power relations.

Author

• Nermin Vehabovic, North Carolina State University