EMI and Translanguaging in Asia Through the ROAD-MAPPING Lens

Abstract

In this concluding chapter we provide a synthesis of the discussions and findings from the nine previous chapters included in this edited volume. To aid this process we make use of the ROAD-MAPPING framework (Dafouz and Smit in ROAD-MAPPING English medium education in the internationalised university. Palgrave Macmillan UK, Cham, Switzerland, 2020). This framework provides a structure for drawing out key elements from the chapters and also enables a comparison between the studies collected here and other EMI research that also adopts the ROAD-MAPPING framework. We begin with a detailed outline of the six interrelated and overlapping dimensions of ROAD-MAPPING: Roles of English (RO), Academic Disciplines (AD), Management (M), Agents (A), Practices and Processes (PP), Internationalisation and Glocalisation (ING). This is followed by an overview of key themes from the chapters in this volume presented according to the six dimensions of the framework. We conclude by suggesting that while there is a great deal of variety in the studies presented here, a central theme that emerges is that in EMI in Asia, English functions as a lingua franca in a multilingual environment in which translanguaging practices are always present regardless of whether they are officially sanctioned or recognised. This volume, thus, makes an original contribution in emphasising the importance of a translanguaging perspective in EMI, as well as adding to the growing body of evidence that EMI is a multilingual phenomenon.