Through the children’s voice. An analysis of language brokering experiences

Because of the lack of provision of language services and for cultural reasons, immigrants very often choose to entrust their children with the task of translating for them. In this paper, we will discuss results from a wide-scale study carried out by the In MedIO PUER(I) research group 1 of the University of Bologna aimed at assessing the main attitudes towards and opinions on child language brokering (CLB) held by the primary actors involved in this form of linguistic and cultural mediation: children of immigrant families attending primary and middle schools in the Forlì-Cesena province of the Emilia Romagna region. The analysis of the narratives they produced and submitted will provide a detailed description of the language brokering activities, in which children are involved, and will illustrate their feelings towards CLB, thus providing an insight into the impact that CLB has on their lives.