Learning About Language Brokering in the Borderlands

Many of our PUENTE high school students already know language brokering long before encountering the term. They’ve seen it at home, at school, in clinics, and across everyday interactions in the borderlands. For some, it’s something they’ve done themselves. For others, it’s something they’ve watched siblings, cousins, or friends do.

In this lesson, PUENTE students learned how language brokering refers to the routine ways bilingual youth oftentimes help families communicate across languages and how these moments require careful use of language, attention to meaning, and awareness of context. We approached them as common, shared practices that shape how communities function.

The drawings were part of a quick draw activity (5 minutes or less!) and reflect how students relate to language brokering emotionally and socially: responsibility, closeness, stress, pride, awkwardness, care. These images matter because they make visible what often goes unacknowledged 👉🏽 how language is actively used by communities to be a bridge between families and institutions.

Learning about everyday language practices like language brokering helps students recognize their own experiences as meaningful sources of knowledge. It also helps us better understand how language is used collectively, not just individually, to navigate school systems, healthcare, and daily life in our communities.

When Spanish has been in our communities longer than English, we challenge our students to think why there are still so many barriers to language access around us…. 🕵🏽‍♀️

#slpeeps #borderlands #bilingualslp #slp2be #bilingüismo