Understanding Reading and Writing in Bilingual Learners: A Psycholinguistic Approach

Welcome! In this guide, we’ll explore how reading and writing work in the brain, especially comparing how monolinguals and bilinguals handle these skills. We’ll also try some fun activities, watch a fascinating video by Stanislas Dehaene, and dive into the Stroop experiment to see firsthand how our minds process words and colors. By the end, you’ll feel more confident interpreting this knowledge and applying it to help your future bilingual students thrive.

Objectives: What We Will Learn Together

• Understand the process of reading in the brain
• Compare how reading works for monolinguals versus bilinguals
• Understand the writing process and how it differs in bilinguals
• Experience and analyze the Stroop task experiment
• Reflect on practical tips to improve writing in a second language (L2)

Reading: More Than Just Words on a Page

Imagine your brain as a super-fast processor. When you read, your eyes don’t glide smoothly across the page; instead, they stop briefly several times per second—about four or five times—to recognize one or two words (Dehaene, 2020). And the amazing part? Your brain only consciously notices the meaning and sound of the words, not those little eye movements called “saccades.”

Now, here’s something that might surprise you: reading is a relatively new skill in human history. Speech has existed for about 200,000 years, but writing appeared only around 5,500 years ago (Dehaene, 2020). Our brains evolved without writing in mind, so learning to read is like repurposing an ancient tool to do a brand-new task—something neuroscientists call “neuronal recycling.”

The Brain and Reading: A Quick Overview

• Sublexical activation: Your brain first recognizes letter shapes and sounds.
• Lexical activation: Then it activates the word’s meaning and grammatical information.
• Sentence comprehension: The brain integrates meaning and figures out sentence structure.
• Mental representation: You keep track of the whole text’s meaning as you read.
• World knowledge retrieval: You use your background knowledge to fill in gaps (de Groot, 2013).

Fluent readers can process about four words per second (Rayner & Sereno, 1994). This speed reflects an interplay between “bottom-up” processing (decoding letters into sounds and meaning) and “top-down” processing (using prior knowledge and experience).

Bilingual Reading: How Is It Different?

If you speak two languages, your brain doesn’t simply switch between two separate dictionaries. Instead, both languages activate simultaneously when you read, even if you’re reading only in one language (Dijkstra & van Heuven, 1998; Van Assche et al., 2009). This means your brain is multitasking—constantly deciding which language to prioritize.

This also explains why bilingual learners might sometimes read slower in their L2. They often rely on translating from L2 to L1 at first, a skill that becomes automatic with practice (Kroll & Stewart, 1994).

The Stroop Experiment: Seeing Automatic Reading in Action

Let’s try a classic experiment that shows how automatic reading is. You’ll see words written in different ink colors. Your task? Say the color of the ink out loud—not the word itself.

Why is this hard? Because our brain reads words automatically, even when we try not to. This causes a delay and sometimes mistakes when the word’s meaning conflicts with the ink color (Stroop, 1935).

Why does this happen?

• Reading is an automatic process — you don’t have to think about it.
• Naming ink colors is a controlled process — you have to focus intentionally.
• When the two conflict, your brain struggles, causing a “Stroop interference effect” (Shriffin & Schneider, 1977).

For example, if the word “red” is printed in blue ink, you might hesitate before saying “blue.” This shows just how deeply ingrained and automatic reading is.

Writing: The Invisible Challenges for Bilinguals

Writing in a second language is more than just spelling words right. It involves juggling many mental tasks at once, like:

• Finding the right words in L2 (which can be slow and tiring)
• Planning ideas and organizing sentences
• Monitoring grammar and spelling
• Sometimes switching between L1 and L2 during the process

Because of this, bilinguals often write shorter texts, pause more frequently, and produce fewer words per minute compared to writing in their first language (Leki, Cumming, & Silva, 2008).

What happens in the brain during bilingual writing?

• The first language (L1) is always “in the background,” influencing word choice and sentence structure.
• Writers may reformulate ideas in L1 first, then translate to L2 (Manchón et al., 2007).

Improving Your Writing in a Second Language: Practical Tips

Here’s something you can try and recommend to your students:

Tip 1: Become an avid reader in your L2!

Why? Reading expands your vocabulary, introduces new expressions, and helps your brain automate the language, making writing easier and faster.

Tip 2: Think in the foreign language while writing!

Why? This reduces the mental “translation” step from L1 to L2, helping ideas flow more naturally and improving fluency.

Activities to Try

• Test your reading speed in your L2: Use online tools like ReadingSoft (http://www.readingsoft.com/) to measure your words per minute and comprehension. Notice how speed and understanding work together.
• Reflect on writing strategies: Share your favourite tip for writing better in your L2 and explain why it helps.
• Do the Stroop task: Practice naming ink colours and observe how automatic reading affects your focus.

Final Thoughts: Empower Your Teaching

Understanding how bilingual brains process reading and writing empowers you as a future teacher. You’ll better appreciate your students’ struggles and strengths, and you’ll be equipped to guide them with empathy and effective strategies.

Remember, reading and writing are skills that grow stronger with practice, patience, and good habits. Your role is crucial in lighting the way.

References

Dehaene, S. (2020). Reading in the brain [Video]. The Brain Prize. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlYZBi_07vk

de Groot, A. M. B. (2013). Language and cognition in bilinguals and multilinguals: An introduction. Psychology Press.

Dijkstra, T., & van Heuven, W. J. B. (1998). The Bilingual Interactive Activation (BIA) Model: How bilinguals recognize words in two languages. Journal of Memory and Language, 39(4), 454–480.

Kroll, J. F., & Stewart, E. (1994). Category interference in translation and picture naming: Evidence for asymmetric connections between bilingual memory representations. Journal of Memory and Language, 33(2), 149–174.

Leki, I., Cumming, A., & Silva, T. (2008). A synthesis of research on second language writing in English. Routledge.

Rayner, K., & Sereno, S. C. (1994). Eye movements in reading: Psycholinguistic studies. In M. A. Gernsbacher (Ed.), Handbook of psycholinguistics (pp. 13–44). Academic Press.

Shriffin, R. M., & Schneider, W. (1977). Controlled and automatic human information processing: II. Perceptual learning, automatic attending, and a general theory. Psychological Review, 84(2), 127–190.

Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18(6), 643–662.

Van Assche, E., Duyck, W., Hartsuiker, R. J., & Diependaele, K. (2009). Does bilingualism change native-language reading? Cognition, 110(2), 253–262.