Developing The Talents And Abilities Of Linguistically Gifted Bilingual Students Guidelines For ...

113 Pages·2007·0.63 MB·English

THE NATIONAL
NRC RESEARCH CENTER
ON THE GIFTED
G/T AND TALENTED
University of Connecticut
University of Virginia
Yale University
Developing the Talents and Abilities
of Linguistically Gifted Bilingual
Students: Guidelines for Developing
Curriculum at the High School Level
Claudia Angelelli
Kerry Enright
Guadalupe Valdés
Stanford University
Stanford, California
March 2002
RM02156

Developing the Talents and Abilities of Linguistically
Gifted Bilingual Students: Guidelines for Developing
Curriculum at the High School Level
Claudia Angelelli
Kerry Enright
Guadalupe Valdés
Stanford University
Stanford, California
March 2002
RM02156
THE NATIONAL
RESEARCH CENTER
ON THE GIFTED
AND TALENTED
The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT) is funded under
the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act, Office of Educational
Research and Improvement, United States Department of Education.
The Directorate of the NRC/GT serves as an administrative and a research unit and is
located at the University of Connecticut.
The participating universities include the University of Virginia and Yale University, as
well as a research unit at the University of Connecticut.
University of Connecticut
Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli, Director
Dr. E. Jean Gubbins, Associate Director
Dr. Sally M. Reis, Associate Director
University of Virginia
Dr. Carolyn M. Callahan, Associate Director
Yale University
Dr. Robert J. Sternberg, Associate Director
Copies of this report are available from:
NRC/GT
University of Connecticut
2131 Hillside Road Unit 3007
Storrs, CT 06269-3007
Visit us on the web at:
www.gifted.uconn.edu
The work reported herein was supported under the Educational Research and Development Centers
Program, PR/Award Number R206R000001, as administered by the Office of Educational Research and
Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. The findings and opinions expressed in this report do not
reflect the position or policies of the National Institute on the Education of At-Risk Students, the Office of
Educational Research and Improvement, or the U.S. Department of Education.
ii
Note to Readers...
All papers by The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented may be
reproduced in their entirety or in sections. All reproductions, whether in part or
whole, should include the following statement:
The work reported herein was supported under the Educational Research
and Development Centers Program, PR/Award Number R206R000001,
as administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement,
U.S. Department of Education. The findings and opinions expressed in
this report do not reflect the position or policies of the National Institute
on the Education of At-Risk Students, the Office of Educational Research
and Improvement, or the U.S. Department of Education.
This document has been reproduced with the permission of The National
Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.
If sections of the papers are printed in other publications, please forward a copy to:
The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented
University of Connecticut
2131 Hillside Road Unit 3007
Storrs, CT 06269-3007
Please Note: Papers may not be reproduced by means of electronic media.
iii

Developing the Talents and Abilities of Linguistically Gifted
Bilingual Students: Guidelines for Developing Curriculum
at the High School Level

Claudia Angelelli
Kerry Enright
Guadalupe Valdés
Stanford University
Stanford, California

ABSTRACT

This monograph contains general suggestions for implementing a curriculum in
interpretation and translation at the high school level for bilingual youngsters who are
experienced interpreters for their families. It includes a brief introductory discussion of
the importance of nurturing the abilities of linguistically talented students and presents a
brief introduction to the field of interpretation and translation. It includes general
suggestions for implementing a curriculum in interpretation and translation as well as
basic lesson suggestions that can be followed in teaching beginning courses in
interpretation and translation.

v

Developing the Talents and Abilities of Linguistically Gifted
Bilingual Students: Guidelines for Developing Curriculum
at the High School Level

Claudia Angelelli
Kerry Enright
Guadalupe Valdés
Stanford University
Stanford, California

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This monograph, "Guidelines for Developing Curriculum at the High School
Level" was written for school administrators and classroom teachers who have an interest
in identifying and developing the special talents and abilities of children who are not
normally viewed by schools as either gifted or talented. The focus is on young
interpreters, a special group of immigrant children, who have been found to have a
unique type of linguistic giftedness. The material presented in this monograph builds
directly on the analysis of young interpreters' performance on our simulated task as well
as our interviews with families and young interpreters. Our research suggests that
youngsters who are selected from among their siblings to serve as official family
interpreters exhibit high performance in what Treffinger and Renzulli (1986) have termed
"gifted behaviors." Unfortunately, given the challenges facing most newly-arrived
youngsters in American schools, the special kinds of giftedness exhibited by such
youngsters are not generally identified, fostered in instruction, or positively evaluated in
formal education. More importantly, there is little understanding of the ways in which
the unique talents of young interpreters might be nurtured and developed in academic
settings.

The document includes the following subsections:

Part 1: Research on Young Interpreters: A Brief Overview
Part 2: Nurturing the Abilities of Linguistically Talented Students
Part 3: A Brief Introduction to the Field of Interpretation and Translation
Part 4: Suggestions for Developing and Implementing a Curriculum in
Interpretation and Translation at the High School Level, and
Part 5: Implementing Courses in Interpretation and Translation: Guidelines for
Teachers

Part 1 offers a general introduction for school administrators and classroom
teachers to the special abilities of bilingual youngsters who are experienced interpreters
and includes an overview of the research conducted on these youngsters. Part 2 includes
a discussion of the importance of nurturing the abilities of linguistically talented students.
vii
Part 3 presents a brief introduction to the field of interpretation and translation that may
be useful to both administrators and teachers as they consider the kinds of talents that
young interpreters have already developed and as they seek to learn more about the field
of translations and interpretation. Part 4 contains general suggestions for implementing a
curriculum in interpretation and translation at the high school level and includes a
discussion of both the identification of students and the identification of teachers.
Finally, Part 5, which is written directly to teachers presents basic lesson suggestions that
can be followed in teaching basic courses in interpretation and translation.

The position taken in this monograph is that attention to developing the special
linguistic abilities of young interpreters can serve to encourage immigrant students'
interest in pursuing their English studies more aggressively as well as in perfecting their
native language skills. While there are many different ways of fostering the continued
development of the unique abilities of these youngsters beginning in elementary school,
these particular guidelines focus on the high school level because it is at this level when
many immigrant students are most at risk. It is our position that students identified by
schools as gifted in the area of interpretation and translation can be encouraged to
consider careers in which their special language skills can give them an advantage. As
students begin to form career goals, they are more likely to form academic goals, as well.

viii