Frida Akmalia, Khoirul Faizin
This study examines instructional strategies employed by teachers in multilingual classrooms to support early Arabic literacy development among LX users in Indonesia. Drawing on classroom observations and semi-structured interviews with teachers working in linguistically diverse educational settings, the study explores how multilingual repertoires are mobilised in early reading instruction. Rather than treating linguistic diversity as a challenge, teachers strategically draw on learners’ existing language resources to scaffold decoding, vocabulary development, and meaning-making in Arabic. The findings demonstrate that practices such as cross-linguistic comparison, translanguaging, and flexible language use play a central role in facilitating early literacy development. These strategies are shaped by broader sociocultural and religious contexts in which Arabic occupies a distinctive symbolic and educational position. By situating classroom practices within Indonesia’s multilingual landscape, this study contributes to debates on multilingual pedagogy, literacy development, and educational provision for additional languages beyond dominant global languages. The findings have implications for multilingual education policy and teacher preparation in similarly diverse contexts. © 2026 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Department of Language Education, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Department of Arabic Language, Universitas Syekh Nawawi Banten, Serang, Indonesia; Department of Arabic Language, Institut At-Tanwir, Bojonegoro, Indonesia
