Rethinking learning and teaching using plurilingual pedagogy in the UAE: Challenges and success stories

Telma Gharibian Steinhagen, Zayed University

Document Type

Book Chapter

Source of Publication

Plurilingual Pedagogy in the Arabian Peninsula: Transforming and Empowering Students and Teachers

Publication Date

12-30-2022

Abstract

In this chapter, the author reflects on her own process of learning and rethinking plurilingualism and plurilingual education as an expatriate educator in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). She focuses on the concept of translanguaging, which has been introduced, adopted, and employed in curricula in countries that use a plurilingual approach with minority students speaking their home languages, such as the USA and Canada. In the case of the Arabian Peninsula, a closer look at students’ language acquisition and development reveals that the use of teaching subjects in English undermines the role of the native language, Arabic, in their language acquisition process. Therefore, in this concluding chapter, the author offers an insight into her own classroom, letting students’ voices be heard while speaking about their experiences and learning journeys in a translanguaging classroom. She also describes her own perspective as an educator at a higher education institution in the Arabian Peninsula who has successfully implemented a plurilingual pedagogy despite her very basic knowledge of Arabic. As the author points out, based on the feedback she received from her students, her teaching practice led to the linguistic empowerment of her students through bilingualism.

ISBN

9781000822403,9781032326467

Publisher

Routledge

First Page

133

Last Page

146

Disciplines

Education | Linguistics

Scopus ID

85143665199

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

Link to Full Text

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