Translating Childhoods - (Rutgers Childhood Studies) by Marjorie Faulstich Orellana (Paperback)

About the Book

Translating Childhoods, a unique contribution to the study of immigrant youth, explores the "work" children perform as language and culture brokers. Children shoulder basic and more complicated verbal exchanges for non-English speaking adults. Readers hear, through children's own words, what it means be the "keys to communication" that adults otherwise would lack. From ethnographic data and research, Marjorie Faulstich Orellana's study expands the definition of child labor by assessing children's roles as translators and considers how sociocultural learning and development is shaped as a result.

Book Synopsis

Though the dynamics of immigrant family life has gained attention from scholars, little is known about the younger generation, often considered "invisible." Translating Childhoods, a unique contribution to the study of immigrant youth, brings children to the forefront by exploring the "work" they perform as language and culture brokers, and the impact of this largely unseen contribution.

Skilled in two vernaculars, children shoulder basic and more complicated verbal exchanges for non-English speaking adults. Readers hear, through children's own words, what it means be "in the middle" or the "keys to communication" that adults otherwise would lack. Drawing from ethnographic data and research in three immigrant communities, Marjorie Faulstich Orellana's study expands the definition of child labor by assessing children's roles as translators as part of a cost equation in an era of global restructuring and considers how sociocultural learning and development is shaped as a result of children's contributions as translators.

Review Quotes

"Translating Childhoods, an important and pathbreaking contribution to the new sociology of childhood, provides lucid analysis and vivid ethnographic portraits of children as powerful social actors engaged in the invisible work of language brokering at home, in schools and in public spaces across an array of institutional domains where their skills matter."--Marjorie Harness Goodwin "UCLA" (1/21/2009 12:00:00 AM)

"Translating Childhoods should be required reading for educators and future teachers. It provides a refreshing and important view of children as active contributors to communities and society."--Lucinda Pease-Alvarez "University of California, Santa Cruz" (7/30/2008 12:00:00 AM)

"I highly recommend Translating Childhoods for an array of courses in language and literacy. Despite the book's strong research base, it reads more like a novel."
--Elaine Rubinstein-Avila "Anthropology and Education Quarterly" (1/1/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"Orellana paints a powerful portrait of the complicated lives of America's immigrant youth."-- "Language Arts" (11/1/2009 12:00:00 AM)

"Orellana tracks immigrant children in Los Angeles, Chicago, and a Chicago suburb to explore the work children do translating for others. From the author's introspection, one once more appreciates that immigrant children are not the burden they are often portrayed."
-- "Education Review" (11/23/2009 12:00:00 AM)

"This is one of the most important works on learning and development among immigrant children in the last decade. Orellana integrates a cognitive and developmental focus with deeply personal portraits that expand fundamentally our understanding of what counts as generative knowledge for academic learning."--Carol D. Lee "Northwestern University, author of Culture, Literacy and Learning" (7/30/2008 12:00:00 AM)

"Translating Childhoods is a deeply insightful analysis of the daily 'work' of immigrant children and its implications for their development--a superb contribution to the field!"--Carola Sußrez-Orozco "author of Children of Immigration and Learning a New Land" (3/11/2009 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Marjorie Faulstich Orellana is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education and Information Sciences at UCLA.