From Language Brokering to Digital Brokering: Refugee Settlement in a Smartphone Age

Many young people in migrant families perform language-brokering tasks for their parents to help them overcome everyday challenges of communicating a new language. Such informal brokering is typically the result younger being more exposed to, and becoming familiar with, dominant language country. This article argues that such has digital equivalent setting, which transnational family communication increasingly relies on grasp “language” smartphones social media. Using data drawn from study Karen humanitarian migrants who have settled Australia, are shown had greater exposure familiarity technology than parents, leading significant communicative differences between two generations. differences, I explain, created conditions conducive performance type intergenerational support context: “digital” brokering. demonstrated through helping use smartphones, media, video-calling apps maintain relationships after settlement.