Negotiating translanguaging in EMI: A systematic review of lecturers' beliefs, practices and constraints

Thanh-Huong Nhac
Hanoi Law University, Vietnam

The expansion of English medium instruction (EMI) across global higher education goes along with the debate about translanguaging as both a pedagogical resource and a challenge for content lecturers. This systematic review synthesises 24 empirical journal articles and book chapters published during the period of 2016-2025 to examine lecturers' beliefs, perceptions and practices of translanguaging, as well as institutional constraints in higher education EMI settings. The research databases Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC and ScienceDirect were used to review studies in diverse contexts for thematic analysis, following PRISMA guidelines. The findings highlight three notable issues concerning teacher-centred dimensions, including (1) persistent tensions between English-only ideologies and multilingual pedagogical realities; (2) translanguaging practices for various purposes, such as knowledge mediation, content comprehension, rapport, and affective supports; and (3) constrained enacted translanguaging factors within policy-driven EMI environments. Through highlighting the belief-practice relationship, this review reconceptualises translanguaging in EMI as a form of situated teacher cognition and professional decision-making, rather than a mere instructional technique or a sign of linguistic deficiency. The article concludes by foregrounding several directions for future research in order to engage more systematically with lecturers' beliefs and agency in multilingual higher education classrooms.
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Author: Ms Thanh Huong Nhac is currently an instructor of legal English in the Faculty of Legal Foreign Languages at Hanoi Law University, and a researcher in language learning and teaching. Ms Nhac is also undertaking her doctoral studies at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Her research interests include EFL, ESP teaching methodology and EMI. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0185-529X Email: nhacthanhhuong@gmail.com Please cite as: Nhac, T.-H. (2026). Negotiating translanguaging in EMI: A systematic review of lecturers' beliefs, practices and constraints. Issues in Educational Research, 36(2), 644-658. http://www.iier.org.au/iier36/nhac.pdf