Beyond L1 transfer: translanguaging practices in L2 and L3 writing among Chinese emergent multilingual undergraduate students

While translanguaging in second/foreign language writing has gained growing scholarly attention, research has predominantly focused on bilingual students, leaving the translanguaging practices of multilingual students underexplored. To address this gap, this case study investigates the translanguaging practices in English and French writing of six Chinese emergent multilingual undergraduate students enrolled in an English-French dual foreign language programme. Data sources included students’ planning notes, outlines, drafts, and their reflective learning journals. The emergent multilingual students employed four types of translanguaging practices to navigate linguistic and discursive difficulties: (1) using their first language (L1) to lessen the cognitive load of generating content and language simultaneously; (2) testing words and phrases across languages to identify the most precise expression; (3) temporarily including words from other languages as placeholders to maintain the thought flow; and (4) tailoring language choices to respond to different writing tasks. Crucially, participants used their languages in various directions and their translanguaging extended beyond simple L1 transfer to second language (L2) or third language (L3). This study contributes to multilingualism research by exploring the translanguaging practices of emergent multilingual students who are learning both the L2 and L3 primarily in a formal learning context, with limited opportunities for daily use.