Voices and Perceptions of Language Brokering Mediators

This qualitative phenomenological case study adds to the existing studies on Language Brokering Mediators (LBMs) who language broke within their educational settings. The goals were to capture events and feelings of language brokering through recorded interviews outside their schools. I selected participants matching specific requirements; I transcribed one interview, coded it, clustered the codes into categories, developed themes, and analyzed them. Themes revealed that participants facilitated communication in their classrooms, their school, and at home as necessary. They also revealed that both participants had positive feelings about their linguistic skills, concerns about mispronouncing English words, and brokering during friends' conflicts. One month later, I met the participants again to conduct a member checking. On that occasion, we also discussed identities. The experiences shared by participants indicate that environments where linguistic skills are nurtured and guided promote a sense of self-efficacy and empathy, which impacts school success. It also revealed that LBMs might be aware of mispronouncing English words which could restrain their oral practice. Two limitations arose from the study: I did not observe the phenomenon in participants' classrooms, and the data in this thesis involved only two participants' experiences. The covid-19's restrictions, unfortunately, influenced access to their classrooms. Also, adding more participants could have robustized findings. Finally, the results could serve as an exploratory resource for those who work with LBMs students and desire to understand and provide holistic pedagogical practices for them.