Children valuables as cultural interpreters

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), April, 2004

Bilingual children who act as linguistic and cultural interpreters should be viewed as an asset to American society, not a liability, argues Guadalupe Valdes, professor of education, Stanford (Calif.) University. "In many countries, to be educated means to be bilingual, in this country, the term bilingual is used to suggest that you are uneducated. Bilingualism has a bad rap."

Valdes' five-year study aims to "broaden definitions of intelligence currently used to identify 'giftedness' by focusing on abilities that are not generally identified or positively evaluated in formal education."

Part of the research focused on young Latino interpreters who may be enrolled in ESL (English as a Second Language) programs, rather than gifted programs, and are not expected to succeed in school. Such students often act as translators in their communities and learn to respond to challenging situations that demand quick thinking and skills. "They were the most suspect of youngsters. And yet, they did incredible things when they were interpreting."

Initially, Valdes did not look closely at programs designed for gifted and talented students because bilingual Latino children rarely are identified as part of this group. "They seemed rather elitist and rather isolationist. Existing views of gifted children reflect an upper-middle-class experience" Quoting from one researcher, she points out that "black, Hispanic, and Native American children appear in gifted programs at about one-half or less of their prevalence in the U.S. population, whereas Asian Americans appear at twice their percentage in the U.S. population."

However, Valdes discovered that various definitions of giftedness exist, and that some researchers have described it as "something we invent, not something we discover." After investigating how a group of so-called "at-risk" ninth-grade Latinos deftly adapted to challenging situations as they translated during a series of simulated exercises, Valdes maintains that the students' abilities fit the current Federal definition of giftedness: "Children and youth with outstanding talent who perform or show the potential of performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment." As a result, according to the same definition, Valdes contends that young interpreters, similar to students identified as gifted, "require services or activities not ordinarily provided by schools."

Valdes contends that such students should not be placed in existing gifted programs, which have not been designed to foster and build upon their specific skills. Instead, she suggests that the programs and methods used to educate ESL students should be reexamined, leading to the development of new instructional approaches designed to build on students' promise, rather than perceived weaknesses; the establishment of schools for talent development, where schoolwide programs are aimed at developing the linguistic and analytic abilities of students; and the establishment of gifted educational programs for experienced young interpreters.

"This will contribute not only to your understanding of the cognitive consequences of bilingualism, but also to the appropriate identification, instruction, and assessment of these uniquely talented young people."