5 Replies to “Affective Responses to Language Brokering Among Spanish Heritage Speakers (Aída Martínez-Gómez)”

1. Thank you for a wonderful presentation. From your data we can see that they have mixed feelings towards interpreting and translating, does this also impact their relationship with their heritage language and learning it?
   How could we support (or serve better) heritage language brokers in the heritage classroom?

   1. Hi Marina,
      Thank you so much for watching my presentation and for our thoughtful question. From my data, they do express mixed feelings about their relationship with the heritage language (negative: it’s not good enough; positive: I felt happy everyone understood me/I could find the right words…). I recently published an article with a few ideas on how to support them better in the interpreting classroom, but most are easily applicable to teh heritage classroom. ILETC supported and funded part of this study (and this article in particular)! 🙂
      Here is the reference, but email me for a copy if you don’t have access though your library.
      Martínez-Gómez, A. (2020) Language brokering experience among interpreting students: Pedagogical implications for the development of interpreting competence. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 14:3, 303-321.

2. Hello Aida, Thank you for your presentation!

   I have two comments/questions: I am wondering if you are interested in thinking critically about the concept “language brokers”, and maybe just using “translators” or “interpreters”. English is not my first language, but I think the concept “broker” might activate neoliberal notions about the use of bilingual/multilingual skills. What you are showing with your data is that there is an important emotional investment in students’ practices. Do you see some type of tension there?

   Also, the meaning of emotions is culturally grounded. Therefore, I am wondering if you and your students share a similar understanding of “positive” and “negative” emotions… Is there any way to include in your study, previous to the analysis, what the students see as positive or negative in terms of emotions?

   1. Chiming in because I have an undergrad McNair scholar working on childhood language brokering. Do you find ‘language broker’ to commodify instead of serve as a recognition that these young people are thrust in to very mature situations? Following this thread…

3. Thank you so much for a wonderful presentation. I didn’t know this concept, but it looks very useful to work with it in a translation and interpretation course. Well supported by a great study design and significant data.

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