The invisible mediators: Child language brokering in Italy

This chapter presents the preliminary findings of a wide-scale research aimed at studying the phenomenon of child language brokering (henceforth CLB) in Italy. After providing an overview of current research in this field and a description of recent immigration patterns in Emilia-Romagna, the study will discuss data obtained by means of a) interviews with former language brokers from a variety of linguistic minorities and b) interviews carried out with representatives of various public institutions. Exploring the retrospective childhood experiences of former language brokers and comparing them to perceptions of CLB by representatives of various public institutions, the chapter will discuss the positive and negative impact of CLB on immigrant children who have grown up translating for their parents.