ED 478 268 AUTHOR TITLE INSTITUTION SPONS AGENCY REPORT NO PUB DATE NOTE CONTRACT AVAILABLE FROM PUB TYPE EDRS PRICE DESCRIPTORS ABSTRACT DOCUMENT RESUME EC 309 678 Valdes, Guadalupe Understanding the Special Giftedness of Young Interpreters. Research Monograph Series. National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, Storrs, CT. Institute of Education Sciences (ED), Washington, DC. RM02158 2002-12-00 206p. R206R000001 National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, University of Connecticut, 2131 Hillside Rd., Unit 3007, Storrs, CT 06269-3007. Tel: 860-486-4676; Fax: 860-486-2900; Web site: http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt. Reports Research (143) EDRS Price MF01/PC09 Plus Postage. *Bilingual Students; *Evaluation Methods; *Gifted; Hispanic Americans; Interpersonal Communication; *Interpreters; Role Playing; Secondary School Students; Spanish Speaking; *Student Characteristics; Talent This monograph reports on research carried out with 25 young Latino interpreters (high school students) who participated in a simulated interpretation task, part of a larger project that examined gifts and talents not generally identified, fostered in instruction, or positively evaluated in formal education. These bilingual adolescents had been selected from among their siblings to serve as interpreters for their families. The study first attempted to develop an instrument to identify the tacit knowledge of young interpreters, then went on to develop a role play situation to allow the observation of actual interpreting performance. The simulation involved a situation in which a mother, whose daughter had been accused of stealing, had been asked to meet with the principal. The script deliberately included a number of face threatening acts that tested students' abilities to broker a tense and emotional exchange. Analysis revealed that the youngsters were able to demonstrate their ability to carry out the very complex task of interpreting under particularly stressful conditions. The study concluded that young interpreters exhibit at least some of the characteristics generally measured in prospective professional interpreters such as memory, analytical ability, speed of comprehension and production, and stress tolerance. (Contains approximately 280 references.) (DB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.