“I Helped My Mom,” and It Helped Me: Translating the Skills of Language Brokers into Improved Standardized Test Scores

TLDR

The study examines how children of mostly Mexican immigrants in Chicago act as language brokers for their families and tests whether this role predicts academic outcomes, calling for further mixed‑method research. The authors used longitudinal regression on data from 87 children, controlling for early school performance, to link higher language brokering to better fifth‑ and sixth‑grade reading test scores. Higher language brokering is associated with higher fifth‑ and sixth‑grade standardized reading scores, suggesting that fostering similar experiences in school could improve bilingual students' achievements.

Abstract

This study illustrates the regularity with which the children of mostly Mexican immigrants in Chicago interpret languages and cultural practices for their families. It also tests the hypothesis, generated from qualitative research, that such "language brokering" is related to academic outcomes. Using data collected from a subset of children ($$n=87$$), longitudinal regression models, which controlled for early school performance, showed that higher levels of language brokering were significantly linked to better scores on fifth‐ and sixth‐grade standardized reading tests. We suggest studying how to cultivate similar experiences at school to improve bilingual students' achievements. We also call for further mixed‐method studies on this topic.