Cover not available

Article published In: AILA Review: Online-First Articles

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB

Implementing translanguaging strategies in the English writing classroom in higher education

A systematic review

ORCiD logo with link | University of Groningen
 | University of Groningen
 | University of Groningen
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with University of Groningen.

Published online: 24 June 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.23018.tan
Abstract
Over the past two decades, translanguaging has become a powerful concept in applied linguistics, enabling teachers and students to respond to linguistic and cultural diversity in the classroom. However, how teachers and students prepare for translanguaging pedagogy and practice in writing has so far received less attention (Huang, X., & Chalmers, H. (2023). Implementation and Effects of Pedagogical Translanguaging in EFL Classrooms: A Systematic Review. Languages, 8(3), 194. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Therefore, this systematic review focuses on the application of translanguaging strategies in the English as a Foreign/Second Language (EFL/ESL) writing classroom. Following the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews, this study searched five databases to obtain articles spanning from 2013 to 2023. We reviewed 23 articles focusing on translanguaging, writing and higher education. Our results show that (1) most studies were conducted in North America and Northern Asia, with qualitative studies being predominant; (2) most researchers implemented translanguaging interventions in the EFL/ESL classroom to study the impact of translanguaging on students’ English writing skills; (3) students applied translanguaging strategies during the writing process to communicate with others on content and vocabulary; (4) translanguaging strategies provided teachers with diverse perspectives and enhanced students’ various skills; (5) the use of digital resources and different types of activities contributed to the application of translanguaging in the writing classroom, but students’ limited language skills in their L2 but also in their L1, and their uncertainty about their linguistic identity limited implementation of translanguaging in the English writing classroom. This systematic review points towards the need for educators to consider the various factors, functions and applications of the use of translanguaging strategies in English writing classrooms.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1The concept of translanguaging in applied linguistics
    • 2.2Translanguaging and writing
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Inclusion and exclusion criteria
    • 3.2Search strategy
    • 3.3Selection process
    • 3.4Data extraction and data items
    • 3.5Quality assessment
    • 3.6Synthesis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Overview of the included studies and quality assessment
    • 4.2Implementation of translanguaging strategies-educational settings, geography, research objectives, and methodology
    • 4.3Translanguaging strategies for ESL/EFL writing teaching and learning
      • 4.3.1Researchers designing translanguaging interventions
      • 4.3.2Teachers applying translanguaging strategies in teaching
        • 4.3.2.1Sharing translanguaging strategies applied in writing courses
        • 4.3.2.2Combining online tools with translanguaging strategies
      • 4.3.3Students applying translanguaging strategies in their writing
        • 4.3.3.1Applying translanguaging strategies in the writing process
        • 4.3.3.2Applying translanguaging strategies in the writing content and vocabulary
        • 4.3.3.3Applying translanguaging strategies in their interactions with others
    • 4.4Impact of translanguaging strategies in ESL/EFL writing teaching and learning
      • 4.4.1In teaching practices
        • 4.4.1.1Providing diverse perspectives
        • 4.4.1.2Creating a “safe” space for students
      • 4.4.2In students’ learning
        • 4.4.2.1Improving students’ awareness of functional differences in languages/metalinguistic understanding
        • 4.4.2.2Improving students’ ability of expression/writing speed
        • 4.4.2.3Improving students’ collaborative skills/ability to process information/problem solving skills
        • 4.4.2.4Improving students’ thinking ability in writing
        • 4.4.2.5Improving/not improving students’ language learning
        • 4.4.2.6Improving/mot improving students’ writing scores
        • 4.4.2.7Raising students’ awareness of their own culture
    • 4.5Factors enabling and constraining classroom application of translanguaging
      • 4.5.1Digital resources
      • 4.5.2Different types of activities
      • 4.5.3Stakeholders
      • 4.5.4Students’ limited language ability in L1 and L2
      • 4.5.5Students’ views on their language identity
  • 5.Discussion, conclusion and limitations
  • References
References (70)
References
*Adamson, J., & Coulson, D. (2015). Translanguaging in English academic writing preparation. International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 10(1), 24–37. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Akbar, R. S. S., & Taqi, H. A. (2020). Translanguaging as an ESL Learning Strategy: A Case Study in Kuwait. International Journal of Higher Education, 9(6), 54–63. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Atta, A., & Naqvi, S. B. (2022). Exploring Translanguaging Praxes in Pakistani Multilingual ESL Classrooms of First-Year Students at University Level. 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 28(3), 149–167. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Auer, P. (2022). Translanguaging’ or ‘doing languages’? Multilingual practices and the notion of ‘codes. In J. MacSwan (Ed.), Multilingual perspectives on translanguaging (pp. 126–153). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baker, C. (2001). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (3rd ed.). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2011). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (5th ed.). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Brown, A., & Lally, R. (2019). Immersive Versus Nonimmersive Approaches to TESOL: A Classroom-Based Intervention Study. TESOL Quarterly, 53(3), 603–629. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Canagarajah, S. (2011). Translanguaging in the classroom: Emerging issues for research and pedagogy. Applied linguistics review, 2(1), 1–28. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Canagarajah, A. S. (2015). “Blessed in my own way:” Pedagogical affordances for dialogical voice construction in multilingual student writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 271, 122–139. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2011). Focus on multilingualism: A study of trilingual writing. The Modern Language Journal, 95(3), 356–369. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020). Teaching English through pedagogical translanguaging. World Englishes, 39(2), 300–311. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Chen, F., Tsai, S. C., & Tsou, W. (2019). The application of translanguaging in an English for specific purposes writing course. English Teaching & Learning, 43(1), 65–83. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cheng, X. & L. J. Zhang. (2021). Teacher Written Feedback on English as a Foreign Language Learners’ Writing: Examining Native and Nonnative English-Speaking Teachers’ Practices in Feedback Provision. Frontiers in Psychology, 121, 1–16. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Creese, A., & Blackledge, A. (2010). Translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: A pedagogy for learning and teaching?. The modern language journal, 94(1), 103–115. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). Translanguaging and identity in educational settings. Annual review of applied linguistics, 351, 20–35. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cummins, J. (2019). The emergence of translanguaging pedagogy: A dialogue between theory and practice. Journal of Multilingual Education Research, 9(13), 19–36.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Denscombe, M. (2021). The Good Research Guide: Research Methods for Small-Scale Social Research (7th ed.). Open University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Dong, R. (2022). Translanguaging in writing: a bilingual PhD student’s reflection. Applied Linguistics Review, 13(3), 417–431. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Duarte, J., & van der Ploeg, M. (2019). Plurilingual lecturers in English medium instruction in the Netherlands: the key to plurilingual approaches in higher education?. European Journal of Higher Education, 9(3), 268–284. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fang, F., & Liu, Y. (2020). ‘Using all English is not always meaningful’: Stakeholders’ perspectives on the use of and attitudes towards translanguaging at a Chinese university. Lingua, 2471, 102959. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fu, D. (2003). An island of English: Teaching ESL in Chinatown. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
García, O. (2009). Emergent Bilinguals and TESOL: What’s in a Name?. Tesol Quarterly, 43(2), 322–326. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
García, O., & Kleifgen, J. A. (2020). Translanguaging and literacies. Reading Research Quarterly, 55(4), 553–571. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
García, O., Johnson, S. I., Seltzer, K., & Valdés, G. (2017). The translanguaging classroom: Leveraging student bilingualism for learning. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
García, O., & Otheguy, R. (2014). Spanish and Hispanic bilingualism. In M. Lacorte (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of Hispanic applied linguistics (pp. 639–658). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
García, O., & Li, W. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Garska, J., & O’Brien, S. (2019). Power, Identity, and Culture in International Students’Perceptions of Academic Writing. Trabalhos em Linguística Aplicada, 58 (1), 62–95. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Genesee, F. (2022). Evidence for differentiated languages from studies of bilingual first language acquisition. In J. MacSwan (Ed.), Multilingual perspectives on translanguaging (pp. 183–200). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gray, D. E. (2021). Doing Research in the Real World. SAGE.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hamman, L. (2018). Translanguaging and positioning in two-way dual language classrooms: A case for criticality. Language and Education, 32(1), 21–42. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Hiller, K. E. (2021). Introducing translanguaging in an EAP course at a joint-venture university in China. RELC Journal, 52(2), 307–317. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hong, Q. N., Fàbregues, S., Bartlett, G., Boardman, F., Cargo, M., Dagenais, P., … & Pluye, P. (2018). The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) version 2018 for information professionals and researchers. Education for information, 34(4), 285–291. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huang, X., & Chalmers, H. (2023). Implementation and Effects of Pedagogical Translanguaging in EFL Classrooms: A Systematic Review. Languages, 8(3), 194. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Kafle, M. (2020). “No one would like to take a risk”: Multilingual students’ views on language mixing in academic writing. System, 941, 102326. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Karabulut, A., & Dollar, Y. K. (2022). The Use of Translanguaging Pedagogy in Writing Classes of Turkish EFL Learners. Participatory Educational Research, 9(6), 41–65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Kaufhold, K. (2018). Creating translanguaging spaces in students’ academic writing practices. Linguistics and Education, 451, 1–9. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Kim, S., & Chang, C. H. (2022). Japanese L2 learners’ translanguaging practice in written peer feedback. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 25(4), 1363–1376. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kleyn, T. & García, O. (2019). Translanguaging as an act of transformation: Restructuring teaching and learning for emergent bilingual students. In L. de Oliveira (Ed.), Handbook of TESOL in K-12 (pp. 69–82). Malden: Wiley. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kobayashi, H., & Rinnert, C. (1992). Effects of first language on second language writing: Translation versus direct composition. Language Learning, 42(2), 183–215. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lau, S. M. C., Juby-Smith, B., & Desbiens, I. (2017). Translanguaging for transgressive praxis: Promoting critical literacy in a multiage bilingual classroom. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 14(1), 99–127. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, C., & García, G. E. (2021). Understanding Korean-American first-graders’ written translanguaging practices. Linguistics and Education, 661, 100998. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, S. (2010). The effectiveness of corrective feedback in SLA: A meta-analysis. Language Learning. 60(2), 309–365. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Llanes, À., & Cots, J. M. (2022). Measuring the impact of translanguaging in TESOL: A plurilingual approach to ESP. International Journal of Multilingualism, 19(4), 523–538. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
MacSwan, J. (2017). A multilingual perspective on translanguaging. American Educational Research Journal, 54(1),167–201. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*McCarty, R. (2018). Translational Learning. Composition Studies, 46(2), 52–78.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Motlhaka, H. A., & Makalela, L. (2016). Translanguaging in an academic writing class: Implications for a dialogic pedagogy. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 34(3), 251–260. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mukhopadhyay, L. (2020). Translanguaging in primary level ESL classroom in India: An exploratory study. International Journal of English Language Teaching, 7(2), 1–15. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., … & Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. International journal of surgery, 881, 105906. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Parmegiani, A. (2022). Translanguaging in a bilingual writing programme: the mother tongue as a resource for academic success in a second language. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 35(3), 290–302. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Popay, J., Roberts, H., Sowden, A., Petticrew, M., Arai, L., Rodgers, M., … & Duffy, S. (2006). Guidance on the conduct of narrative synthesis in systematic reviews. A product from the ESRC methods programme Version, 1(1), b92.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Prilutskaya, M. (2021). Examining pedagogical translanguaging: A systematic review of the literature. Languages, 6(4), 180. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pun, J. K., & Tai, K. W. (2021). Doing science through translanguaging: A study of translanguaging practices in secondary English as a medium of instruction science laboratory sessions. International Journal of Science Education, 43(7), 1112–1139. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Rafi, A. S. M., & Morgan, A. M. (2023). Translanguaging and power in academic writing discourse: the case of a Bangladeshi university. Classroom Discourse, 14(2), 192–214. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shrestha, P., & Fick, D. M. (2020). Family caregiver’s experience of caring for an older adult with delirium: a systematic review. International journal of older people nursing, 15(4), e12321. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Song, X., & McCarthy, G. (2018). Governing Asian international students: The policy and practice of essentialising ‘critical thinking’. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 16(3), 353–365. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Sun, P. P., & Zhang, L. J. (2022). Effects of Translanguaging in Online Peer Feedback on Chinese University English-as-a-Foreign-Language Students’ Writing Performance. RELC Journal: A Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 53(2), 325–341. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tai, K. W., & Wei, L. (2021). Co-learning in Hong Kong English medium instruction mathematics secondary classrooms: A translanguaging perspective. Language and Education, 35(3), 241–267. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Tsai, S. C. (2022). Chinese students’ perceptions of using Google Translate as a translingual CALL tool in EFL writing. Computer assisted language learning, 35(5–6), 1250–1272. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Turnbull, B. (2019). Translanguaging in the planning of academic and creative writing: A case of adult Japanese EFL learners. Bilingual Research Journal, 42(2), 232–251. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Van der Walt, C., & Pfeiffer, V. (2019). Ethno-linguistically diverse South African students’ writing. Per Linguam: a Journal of Language Learning= Per Linguam: Tydskrif vir Taalaanleer, 35(2), 58–73.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Velasco, P., & García, O. (2014). Translanguaging and the writing of bilingual learners. Bilingual Research Journal, 37(1), 6–23. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Wang, Y., & Li, D. (2022). Translanguaging pedagogy in tutor’s oral corrective feedback on Chinese EFL learners’ argumentative writing. Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 7(1), 33. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wei, L. (2016). New Chinglish and the post-multilingualism challenge: Translanguaging ELF in China. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 5(1), 1–25. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2022). Translanguaging as a political stance: Implications for English language education. ELT journal, 76(2), 172–182. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wei, L., & García, O. (2022). Not a first language but one repertoire: Translanguaging as a decolonizing project. RELC Journal, 53(2), 313–324. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yu, S., & Lee, L. (2014). An analysis of Chinese EFL students’ use of first and second language in peer feedback of L2 writing. System, 471: 28–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yüce, E. (2020). Keeping online diary as an integrated activity for developing writing skill in EFL classes through Penzu. Bartin Üniversitesi Egitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 9(1), 132–140. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Zhang, X., & Hadjioannou, X. (2022). Chinese graduate students’ translanguaging practice in the context of academic writing in English. Applied Linguistics Review, 13(3), 373–388. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
*Zheng, X. (2017). Translingual identity as pedagogy: International teaching assistants of English in college composition classrooms. The Modern Language Journal, 101(S1), 29–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Tikhonova, Elena & Lilia Raitskaya
2025. Prevailing Themes and Future Research Agendas in Higher Education: A Systematic Scoping Review of Reviews (2024-2025). Journal of Language and Education 11:3 ► pp. 5 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 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.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue