Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Developing Bilingual Brain: What Parents and Teachers Should Know and Do

  • Published:
Early Childhood Education Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The field of neuroscience is now providing research findings about how the bilingual brain functions that can be used to promote richer and more successful dual-language development. This article summarizes recent research, then provides practical applications for parents and teachers of emergent bilinguals. Key understandings about how the brain processes first and subsequent languages are translated into ways to enrich instruction and family-based language and literacy experiences.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adamy, J. (2016). Dual-language classes for kids grow in popularity. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/article_email/dual-language-classes-for-kids-grow-in-popularity-1459535318-lMyQjAxMTA2NzAxNDMwMzQyWj.

  • Adesope, O. O., Lavin, T., Thompson, T., & Ungerleider, C. (2010). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the cognitive correlates of bilingualism. Review of Educational Research, 80(2), 207–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball, J. (2011). Enhancing learning of children from diverse language backgrounds: Mother tongue-based bilingual or multilingual education in the early years. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

    Google Scholar 

  • Barac, R., Bialystok, E., Castro, D. C., & Sanchez, M. (2014). The cognitive development of young dual language learners: A critical review. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29, 699–714.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batterink, L. J., Oudiette, D., Reber, P. J., & Paller, K. A. (2014). Sleep facilitates learning a new linguistic rule. Neuropsychologia, 65, 169–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bialystok, E. (2007). Cognitive effects of bilingualism: How linguistic experience leads to cognitive change. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10(3), 210–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bialystok, E. (2009). Bilingualism: The good, the bad, and the indifferent. Bilingualism, 12(1), 3–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bialystok, E. (2011). Reshaping the mind: The benefits of bilingualism. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 65(4), 229–235. doi:10.1037/a0025406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bialystok, E., & Hakuta, A. (1999). Confounded age: Linguistic and cognitive factors in age differences for second language acquisition. In D. Birdsong (Ed.), Second language acquisition and the critical period hypothesis (pp. 161–181). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjork, R. A., & Kroll, J. F. (2015). Desirable difficulties in vocabulary learning. American Journal of Psychology, 128(2), 241–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carew, T. J., & Magsamen, S. H. (2010). Neuroscience and education: An ideal partnership for producing evidence-based solutions to guide 21st century learning. Neuron, 67(5), 685–688.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook, V. (1997). The consequences of bilingualism for cognitive processing. In A. M. D. de Groot & J. F. Kroll (Eds.), Tutorials in bilingualism: Psycholinguistic perspectives (pp. 279–299). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, J. (1999). Bilingual education: History, politics, theory, and practice (4th edn.). Los Angeles: Bilingual Education Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeKeyser, R., & Larsen-Hall, J. (2005). What does the critical period really mean?. In E. F. Kroll & A. M. B. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches (pp. 89–108). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dutcher, N., & Tucker, G. R. (1994). The use of first and second languages in education: A review of educational experience. Washington, DC: World Bank, East Asia and the Pacific Region, Country Department III.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gervain, J. (2015). Plasticity in early language acquisition: The effects of prenatal and early childhood experience. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 35, 13–20. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26093365.

  • Goetz, P. (2003). The effects of bilingualism on theory of mind development. Bilingualism, 6, 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hakuta, K. (1986). Mirror of language: The debate on bilingualism. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jasinska, K. K., & Petitto, L. A. (2013). How age of bilingual exposure can change the neural systems for language in the developing brain: A functional near infrared spectroscopy investigation of syntactic processing in monolingual and bilingual children. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 6, 87–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jusczyk, P. W., Friederici, A. D., Wessels, J. M., Svenkerud, V. Y., & Jusczyk, A. M. (1993). Infants′ sensitivity to the sound patterns of native language words. Journal of memory and language, 32(3), 402–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser, A., Eppenberger, L. S., Smieskova, R., Borgwardt, S., Kuenzli, E., Radue, E. W., & Bendfeldt, K. (2015). Age of second language acquisition in multilinguals has an impact on gray matter volume in language-associated brain areas. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kovelman, I., Baker, S. A., & Petitto, L. A. (2008a). Bilingual and monolingual brains compared: A functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation of syntactic processing and a possible “neural signature” of bilingualism. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20(1), 153–169.

  • Kovelman, I., Shalinsky, M. H., Berens, M. S., & Petitto, L. A. (2008b). Shining new light on the brain’s “bilingual signature”: A functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy investigation of semantic processing. NeuroImage, 39(3), 1457–1471.

  • Krashen, S. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. London: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krizman, J., Skoe, E., Marian, V., & Kraus, N. (2014). Bilingualism increases neural response consistency and attentional control: Evidence for sensory and cognitive coupling. Brain and Language, 128(1), 34–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kroll, J. F., & Bialystok, E. (2013). Understanding the consequences of bilingualism for language processing and cognition. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 25(5), 497–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kroll, J. F., Bobb, S. C., & Hoshino, N. (2014). Two languages in mind: Bilingualism as a tool to investigate language, cognition, and the brain. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23(3), 159–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, P. K., Tsao, F. M., & Lui, H. M. (2003). Foreign-language experience in infancy: Effects of short-term exposure and social interaction on phonetic learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 100(15), 9096–9101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuo, L. J., & Anderson, R. C. (2012). Effects of early bilingualism on learning phonological regularities in a new language. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 11(3), 455–467.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lenneberg, E. H. (1967). The biological foundations of language. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, S., Ying, L., & Pui, F. K. (2011). Lexical development in Mandarin-English bilingual children. Bilingualism, 14(4), 579–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacLeod, A. A., Fabiano-Smith, L., Boegner-Pagé, S., & Fontolliet, S. (2013). Simultaneous bilingual language acquisition: The role of parental input on receptive vocabulary development. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 29(1), 131–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacSwain, J., & Pray, L. (2005). Learning English bilingually: Age of onset of exposure and rate of acquisition among English language learners in a bilingual education program. Bilingual Research Journal, 29(3), 653–678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNeil, L. (2012). Extending the compensatory model of second language reading. System, 40, 64–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michael, E. B., & Gollan, T. H. (2005). Being and becoming bilingual: Individual differences and consequences for language production. In A. M. B. Degroot (Ed.), Handbook of bilingualism: Polylinguistic practices (pp. 389–407). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wagner, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex frontal lobe tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41, 49–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mohades, S., Van Schuerbeek, P., Rosseel, Y., Van De Craen, P., Luypaert, R., & Baeken, C. (2015). White-matter development is different in bilingual and monolingual children: A longitudinal DTI study. PLoS ONE 10(2):1–16. Accessed March 9, 2016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moll, L. C., & Dworin, J. E. (1996). Biliteracy development in classrooms: Social dynamics and cultural possibilities. In D. Hicks (Ed.), Discourse, learning and schooling (pp. 221–246). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nayak, N., Hansen, N., Krueger, N., & McLaughlin, B. (1990). Language-learning strategies in monolingual and bilingual adults. Language Learning, 40, 221–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paradis, J. (2001). Do bilingual two-year-olds have separate phonological systems? International Journal of Bilingualism, 5(1), 19–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paradis, J., Genesee, F., & Crago, M. B. (2010). Dual language development and disorders: A handbook on bilingualism and second language learning. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paradis, J., & Jia, R. (2016). Bilingual children’s long-term outcomes in English as a second language: Language environment factors shape individual differences in catching up with monolinguals. Developmental Science, 19(4), 1–15. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/desc.12433/full.

  • Pearson, B. Z. (2007). Social factors in childhood bilingualism in the United States. Applied Psycholinguistics, 28(3), 399–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petitto, L. (2009). New discoveries from the bilingual brain and mind across the life span: Implications for education. Mind, Brain, and Education, 3(4), 185–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petitto, L. A., Berens, M. S., Kovelman, I., Dubins, M. H., Jasinska, K., & Shalinsky, M. (2012). The “Perceptual Wedge Hypothesis” as the basis for bilingual babies’ phonetic processing advantage: New insights from fNIRS brain imaging. Brain and Language, 121(2), 130–143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petitto, L. A., Katerelos, M., Levy, B. G., Gauna, K., Tétreault, K., & Ferraro, V. (2001). Bilingual signed and spoken language acquisition from birth: Implications for the mechanisms underlying early bilingual language acquisition. Journal of Child Language, 28(2), 453–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prevoo, M. J., Malda, M., Mesman, J., Emmen, R. A., Yeniad, N., Van Ijzendoorn, M. H., & Linting, M. (2014). Predicting ethnic minority children’s vocabulary from socioeconomic status, maternal language and home reading input: Different pathways for host and ethnic language. Journal of Child Language, 41(5), 963–984. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24067295.

  • Ransdell, S., Arecco, M. R., & Levy, C. M. (2001). Bilingual long-term working memory: The effects of working memory loads on writing quality and fluency. Applied Psycholinguistics, 22, 113–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez-Fornells, A., Rotte, M., Heinze, H., Nösselt, T., & Münte, T. F. (2002). Brain potential and functional MRI evidence for how to handle two languages with one brain. Nature, 415(6875), 1026–1029. doi:10.1038/4151026a.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sigman, M., Pena, M., Goldin, A. P., & Ribeiro, S. (2014). Neuroscience and education: Prime time to build the bridge. Nature Neuroscience, 17, 497–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snow, C. (2002). Epilogue. In C. T. Adger, C. E. Snow, & D. Christian (Eds.) What teachers need to know about language (pp. 123–130). McHenry, IL: Delta Systems.

    Google Scholar 

  • Special Eurobarometer. (2006). Europeans and their languages. European Commission.

  • Stocco, A., Yamasaki, B., Natalenko, R., & Prat, C. S. (2014). Bilingual brain training: A neurobiological framework of how bilingual experience improves executive function. International Journal of Bilingualism, 18(1), 67–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taguchi, E., Gorsuch, G., Lems, K., & Rosszell, R. (2016). Scaffolding in L2 reading: How repetition and an auditory model help readers. Reading in a Foreign Language 28(1), 101–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Heuven, W. J., & Dijkstra, T. (2010). Language comprehension in the bilingual brain: fMRI and ERP support for psycholinguistic models. Brain Research Reviews, 64(1), 104–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wesche, M. B. (2002). Early French Immersion: How has the original Canadian model stood the test of time? In: P. Burmeister, T. Piske & A. Rohde (Eds.) An integrated view of language development. Papers in honour of Henning Wode (pp. 357–379). Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag. http://www.fmksonline.de/_wd_showdoc.php?pic=865.

  • Wong, B., Yin, B., & O’Brien, B. (2016). Neurolinguistics: Structure, function, and connectivity in the bilingual brain. BioMed Research International. doi:10.1155/2016/7069274.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Utah State University, 2103 North 728 East, North Logan, UT, 84341, USA

    Kathleen A. J. Mohr

  2. Utah State University, 534 South 1030 East, Smithfield, UT, 84335, USA

    Stephanie M. Juth

  3. Utah State University, 270 N. 200 W., Logan, UT, 84321, USA

    Theresa L. Kohlmeier

  4. University of Iowa, 2050 Tanglewood Street, Iowa City, IA, 52245, USA

    Kayleen E. Schreiber

Authors
  1. Kathleen A. J. Mohr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stephanie M. Juth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Theresa L. Kohlmeier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kayleen E. Schreiber
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kathleen A. J. Mohr.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mohr, K.A.J., Juth, S.M., Kohlmeier, T.L. et al. The Developing Bilingual Brain: What Parents and Teachers Should Know and Do. Early Childhood Educ J 46, 11–20 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-016-0833-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-016-0833-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation