The Bilingual Brain

1. The Bilingual Brain

2. Background Information

38% of total student population are
English language learners
Numbers are going up every year
“sink or swim” or ESL classes
ELL students are categorized as “at risk”
Lower expectations and quality of
education

3. Background Information Cont.

U.S. Department of Labor, 1993:
3-5 years to acquire English needed for
social settings
4-7 years to attain grade norms in
“academic” English
Video

4. Neurobiology

PET scans were used to measure brain activity in
bilingual brains
People who grew up bilingual had brain activity in the
same area of the Broca’s area.
People who learned a second language later in life
activity was found in two separate parts of the Broca’s
area.
Wernicke’s Area stores the ability to understand and
process information for both early and late bilinguals.

5. Neurobiology Broca’s Area

6. Neurobiology Wernicke’s Area

7. Neurobiology

Bilingual children are
found to have better
abilities to block out
misleading
information
It is believed that this
is due to the bilingual
child’s early use of
executive functions,
which is located in
the prefrontal cortex

8. Neurobiology

The brain of the bilingual is thought to to
work harder to differentiate between the
two languages stored in their brain.
therefore they are better “trained” to
avoid interference.

9. Educational Implications

Language acquisition takes
time and hard work on the
part of the student
Research shows that
teachers who use differences
in language and culture in
their classrooms as a way to
teach both ELL students and
native English speakers have
ELL students that are more
academically and socially
successful.
Patience, understanding, and
encouragement is needed for
these students.
School psychologists need to
take into account the time it
takes to acquire academic
English before testing ELL
students.
Research has shown that
school psychologists or
school counselors who form
support groups for ELL
students to discuss the
different aspects of being an
ELL student have been
shown to have more success.