We report results of writing samples of six Emirati children aged four to four and a half years collected at monthly intervals over an eight month period (the kindergarten academic year). Three teachers and six parents were interviewed to triangulate the data that were collected in the classrooms. The grounded theory method was used to code and categorize the data, which were then compared with the literature on emergent writing. Findings of this longitudinal study revealed that few opportunities are provided at home and in kindergarten for the development of young children’s emergent writing in Arabic and revealed other issues related to bilingualism and diglossia. Recommendations are provided for policy makers, teachers, and parents that would accelerate the development of young children’s Arabic literacy, particularly emergent writing skills, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
2025. Exploring the Impact of Family Socio-Economic Status on Children’s Bilingual Abilities Among Arab Families. Education Sciences 15:4 ► pp. 516 ff.
Thomure, Hanada Taha, Cherry Zin Oo & Myint Swe Khine
2025. Reading achievements among students in the United Arab Emirates: A multilevel analysis of PIRLS 2021. International Journal of Educational Research Open 8 ► pp. 100421 ff.
Çetinkaya, Fatih Çetin, Muhammet Sönmez & Timothy Rasinski
2025. Examining Home Literacy Activities According to Parents’ Views: A Comparative Study. Reading & Writing Quarterly► pp. 1 ff.
Hasanah, Shofiyatul, Hanan . & Parahita Pradipta
2024. The Diglossic-Bilingual of English-Arabic Second-Language Eventualities in Madurese-Scholar's Society. KnE Social Sciences
Gharaibeh, Mahmoud & Abed Alrazaq H. Alhassan
2023. The First Step in Inculcating Reading: Insights from UAE on Efficacy in Teaching Kindergarteners to Read in the Arabic Language. Reading Psychology 44:4 ► pp. 412 ff.
Maluch, Jessica Tsimprea
2022. Differing effects of the early sociocultural context on reading for Arabic- and English-speaking students. Language and Education 36:6 ► pp. 576 ff.
Cheung, Sum Kwing, Katrina May Dulay, Xiujie Yang, Fateme Mohseni & Catherine McBride
2021. Home Literacy and Numeracy Environments in Asia. Frontiers in Psychology 12
Said, Fatma F.S.
2021. Arabic-English bilingual children’s early home literacy environments and parental language policies. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 29:3 ► pp. 424 ff.
Tibi, Sana, Ashley A. Edwards, Christopher Schatschneider, Linda J. Lombardino, John R. Kirby & Soheil H. Salha
2021. IRT analyses of Arabic letter knowledge in Kindergarten. Reading and Writing 34:3 ► pp. 791 ff.
Tibi, Sana, Lisa Fitton & Autumn L. McIlraith
2021. The development of a measure of orthographic knowledge in the Arabic language: A psychometric evaluation. Applied Psycholinguistics 42:3 ► pp. 739 ff.
Gallagher, Kay
2020. Early Language Education in the United Arab Emirates. In Handbook of Early Language Education [Springer International Handbooks of Education, ], ► pp. 1 ff.
Gallagher, Kay
2022. Early Language Education in the United Arab Emirates. In Handbook of Early Language Education [Springer International Handbooks of Education, ], ► pp. 893 ff.
Calafato, Raees & Fei Tang
2019. The status of Arabic, superdiversity, and language learning motivation among non-Arab expats in the Gulf. Lingua 219 ► pp. 24 ff.
Tibi, Sana & John R. Kirby
2019. Reading in Arabic: How Well Does the Standard Model Apply?. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 62:4 ► pp. 993 ff.
Wofford, Mary Claire & Sana Tibi
2018. A human right to literacy education: Implications for serving Syrian refugee children. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 20:1 ► pp. 182 ff.
Carroll, Kevin S., Bashar Al Kahwaji & David Litz
2017. Triglossia and promoting Arabic literacy in the United Arab Emirates. Language, Culture and Curriculum 30:3 ► pp. 317 ff.
Al-Qaryouti, Ibrahim A., Fathi M. Ihmeideh, Ghanem J. Al bustami & Moayyad A. Homidi
2016. Evidence-based strategies to support children’s emergent literacy in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. European Journal of Developmental Psychology 13:5 ► pp. 545 ff.
Tibi, Sana & Lorraine McLeod
2014. The Development of Young Children’s Arabic Language and Literacy in the United Arab Emirates. In Handbook of Arabic Literacy [Literacy Studies, 9], ► pp. 303 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 24 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.
