The Immigrant Education Society (TIES) is celebrating the release of a new book that explores children’s language transmission among new families.
In children’s language mediation, children act as mediators of language and culture to their families when they settle and assimilate in a new country.
The book was compiled in part by TIES’ own Katerina Palova, Dr. Anusha Kassan (University of British Columbia) and Halley Silversides (University of Calgary).
Designated Beyond Translation: Exploring children’s language transmission in Alberta’s culturally diverse landscapethe book is the culmination of five years of data collection by interviewing more than 50 parents and their children.
“We talked to many new families, did interviews and surveys with them in English, French and Arabic,” Palova said.
“We also spoke with housing professionals, health professionals, some school staff and some of the delivery.”
“What little research has been done on this topic has come mostly from the United States and a little from eastern Canada,” said Kassan, editor-in-chief.
“We really wanted to localize this research to Alberta, so all of the research we did was province-wide and then Calgary as well.”
The team found that sometimes children are exposed to content that is not developmentally appropriate and too sensitive, such as their parents’ legal and medical information, and suggested that it could affect a child’s psychological development.
“We’ve heard a lot of criticism about involving children in very sensitive connections, and often families have no choice but to ask their children or relatives for help,” Palova said.
“But we also saw that we can mitigate these consequences if they are handled well.”
Palova says the researchers hosted workshops for the families participating in the study and talked with parents and children separately and then together to give them tips and tools to prepare before they find themselves in a sensitive situation.
“We hope that through these initiatives, more programming will be created and also awareness, because language mediation is not going away,” he said.
“Unfortunately, here in Alberta, we have trouble providing interpreters and translators from our other official language, which is French, so how can we really support language groups with all the results coming into the country if we can’t even make sure that the French translation is in place.”
Kassan says that not all findings are negative.
“It’s a nice surprise to see families come closer together,” she said.
“And seeing the kids reflect on their immigration experiences and admit that they do care about the language is really a way of giving back to the family because they realize how much sacrifice was made in this process of coming to Canada.”
Kassan says the final chapters of the book can be used by immigrant families and agencies that help them transition to a new country.
“The last few chapters are about mobilizing information, so there are some resources, some toolkits that people can really use to help prepare families for the whole process,” she said.
“For me, the reality is that families do this, they have no choice, it’s necessary, so if they’re going to do it, let’s support them to do it optimally.”