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Sanders-Smith, S. C., & Dávila, L. T. (2019). Progressive practice and translanguaging: Supporting multilingualism in a Hong Kong preschool. Bilingual Research Journal, 42(3), 275-290.

This case study explores how children in an early childhood program at an international school in Hong Kong develop language by employing translanguaging practices. Specifically, it explores conditions for multilingual interactions and the experiences of young children within trilingual learning contexts. The authors highlight research on Spanish/English dual language programs where the separation of language instruction was “at odds with natural social interactions of emergent bilingual children” (p. 278) who tend to translanguage in their daily interactions. Sanders-Smith and Dávila’s findings suggest that Progressive and translanguaging practices created conditions for multilingualism in the classroom, allowing young children to negotiate relationships and express agency while participating in conversations they may not have otherwise been able to participate in without engaging in authentic language use.

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