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ArticleOpen Access http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/er.2026.05.006

A Review of Empirical Research on Translingual Writing (2021-2025)

Yalan Li

School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, Hubei, China.

*Corresponding author: Yalan Li

Published: May 20, 2026

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the multilingual turn in second language (L2) writing research, this paper systematically reviews 27 SSCI empirical studies on translingual writing published from 2021 to 2025 retrieved from Web of Science (WoS). The review analyzes existing literature from five dimensions: research subjects, pedagogical approaches and assessment systems, teaching effectiveness, identity construction and power dynamics, and digital transformation. The results show that learners’ language proficiency, cultural backgrounds, and disciplinary environments shape their translingual practices during writing. Diverse inclusive teaching frameworks and evaluation tools have been developed to replace monolingual standardized assessments. Besides, translingual writing is proven to enhance students’ critical language awareness and writing literacy, while functioning as a decolonial space to negotiate linguistic power relations and construct hybrid multilingual identities. With the digital shift, digital platforms and generative AI forms have distributed translingual ecosystems for L2 writers. The review consolidates the dual pedagogical and political values of translingual writing. It also identifies prominent research gaps: insufficient GAI-related translingual writing research and an overreliance on qualitative methodologies. Future studies should strengthen quantitative and interdisciplinary exploration into AI-assisted translingual writing to advance inclusive, epistemic-fair L2 writing pedagogy.

Keyword

Translingual writing; L2 writing; critical language awareness; identity construction; digital translingual practice

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Copyright

© 2026 by the author(s).
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not modified or adapted.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

How to cite this paper

A Review of Empirical Research on Translingual Writing (2021-2025)

How to cite this paper: Yalan Li. (2026). A Review of Empirical Research on Translingual Writing (2021-2025)The Educational Review, USA10(5), 290-297.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/er.2026.05.006