Understanding Translanguaging Practices among Postgraduate Students in Private Higher Education Using Interview

HRMARS - In the landscape of Private Higher Education (PHE), the prevalent "English-only" mandate often imposes a monolingual bias that marginalizes the rich, multilingual identities of postgraduate students. This conceptual paper draws on Ofelia García’s theory of translanguaging to argue that language is not a set of distinct codes, but a unitary repertoire that students strategically utilize to navigate complex academic landscapes. The paper identifies four critical challenges inherent in this environment—monolingual ideology, cognitive overload, data thinness in qualitative research, and identity erasure—and proposes a transformative methodological framework: the translanguaging interview. By actively allowing for fluid language use during the research process, this approach deconstructs traditional power asymmetries and uncovers the "hidden" intellectual labor and sophisticated sense-making processes of postgraduate scholars. This paper outlines a systematic, four-step interview process—establishing a translanguaging space, probing cognition, engaging artifacts, and co-constructing meaning—designed to move beyond linguistic constraints toward a more equitable and authentic representation of multilingual scholarship. Ultimately, this framework challenges institutional monolingualism and validates translanguaging as a legitimate, strategic academic practice essential for cognitive depth and educational equity in increasingly diverse higher education settings.