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Article published In: Language Teaching for Young Learners
Vol. 8:1 (2026) ► pp.20–30

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Attending to a pedagogical moment of wonder in the early years; towards translanguaging in a UAE kindergarten

ORCiD logo with link | Emirates College for Advanced EducationAbu Dhabi | University of Ljubljana
Published online: 12 November 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.25003.dil
Abstract
This paper is a brief report on attending to a pedagogical moment of wonder as a researcher. It illuminates how a co-teaching pair in an Emirati kindergarten enacted a translanguaging pedagogy while facilitating emergent writing in both Arabic and English. This paper resulted from a 20-minute excerpt observed in one classroom, which showed the co-teachers skillfully co-teaching in an equitable manner which drew on the linguistic resources of children and teachers. It highlights the need for researchers to be prepared for moments that glow during data collection, in order to highlight unexpected effective practices. It offers recommendations to researchers and practitioners regarding implications for practice in relation to enacting a translanguaging pedagogy with young learners, as well being prepared to attend to creative and critical moments that stand out from the more common features of the data.
Article outline
  • Learning from a kindergarten classroom in Abu Dhabi
  • UAE kindergartens
  • The lesson observed
  • The moment of wonder
  • Why was this so special?
  • What are the main takeaways?
  • A note of methodological awareness
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
References (25)
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