NCJ Number
226934
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 38 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2009 Pages: 703-718
Date Published
May 2009
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study examined Chinese-American adolescents’ perceptions of language brokering for their mothers and fathers.
Abstract
This study yields support for a model where Chinese-American adolescents’ Chinese orientation sets in motion a family process that helps to explain variations in their perceptions of the language brokering experience when language brokering for mothers and fathers. Results reveal that when Chinese-American adolescents are more Chinese oriented they ultimately feel a sense of efficacy as language brokers for their mothers and fathers, and that these relations are partially explained by the importance they place on familial obligation and the perceptions that they mattered to their parents even when controlling for prior levels of the exogenous and mediating variables. In contrast, when Chinese-American adolescents are less Chinese oriented they ultimately feel a sense of burden as language brokers for their mothers and fathers, and these relations are partially explained by a weak sense of familial obligation and a sense of alienation from their parents. Moreover, these effects hold regardless of parental income, parental education, children’s nativity, and the children’s frequency of language brokering for their parents. Data were collected from 256 adolescents residing in a metropolitan area of Northern California in 7th and 8th grade during wave 1, and again during wave 2 when the adolescents were in 11th or 12th grade. Tables, figures, and references