Study demonstrates how STEM teachers use translanguaging methods for knowledge co-construction in higher education, highlighting important language relationships.
The study examines the classroom practices of four STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teachers in an EMI higher education programme in China, investigating how they utilise diverse language resources to recalibrate epistemic frameworks in a knowledge (co)construction process. Drawing on class observations and interviews, the study moves beyond the flexibility of language use in EMI lessons to explore the intricate relationships between languages, semiotics, and knowledge systems in EMI teaching. The findings reveal that EMI teachers employed varied translanguaging strategies to facilitate knowledge co-construction, leveraging teachers’ and students’ existing knowledge as valuable learning resources. The epistemic diversity of bilingual teachers and students was recognised as an asset, breeding opportunities for knowledge development with a glocal grounding in EMI. Nonetheless, the study also highlights the need for greater support in raising teachers’ critical awareness of the ideologies underlying EMI and enhancing recognition of the transknowledging value of translanguaging pedagogy.
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Gu et al. (2025) studied this question.