We propose biliteracy as a domain-specific talent which can be nurtured in schools. Biliterate (in contrast to bilingual) individuals speak, read, and write in two or more languages. Using a mixed methods design, we investigated academic resilience, school belonging, and the perceived impact of bilingualism in samples of Hispanic biliterate students living in the USA. Quantitative survey data from 30 students with family origins in Latin America were collected online. Results from one-way ANOVAs indicated that students reporting participation in gifted education services attained higher levels of academic resilience and school belonging than their counterparts who did not. Students born in Spanish-speaking countries reported lower levels of academic resilience and school belonging compared to U.S.-born students. An inductive approach to coding the qualitative data from interviews with nine talented students resulted in three broad themes: Bilingualism, Academic Resilience, and Opinions About School. Implementation of the Seal of Biliteracy is recommended.
Moreno-Navarrete et al. (2026) studied this question.