Manifestations of translanguaging and transknowledging in the assemblage of EAP writing

Abstract This paper examines how translanguaging and transknowledging manifest in the research-paper writing process of pre-university international students as English language learners in a Canadian EAP program. A wealth of research has documented the challenges these students face in learning the conventions of English academic writing. More recent research has explored the potential of translanguaging in writing pedagogy; however, we argue that current research has yet to fully enact the decolonizing agenda underlying translanguaging as a movement, that is, to dissolve monolingual ideologies and hegemonic structures and to allow for transknowledging that represents the diverse ways of knowing circulating within the EAP classroom. Drawing on the concept of assemblage, data from one student composing a source-based research paper is presented to highlight the presence of translanguaging and transknowledging in their work, as well as the threat of transgression that demarcates which languages and knowledge are permitted. We conclude with methodological and pedagogical recommendations to disrupt conventional logic in how translanguaging research and practice can serve to create more globally inclusive educational spaces.