Strategic translanguaging and trans-semiotizing in an English for academic purposes class

In this study, drawing on the MEC framework, a researcher collaborated with a teacher to develop strategic translanguaging and trans-semiotizing practices to teach an EAP course at a university in China. Further drawing on Martinec and Salway's framework to analyse intersemiotic interaction, this study illustrates how translanguaging and trans-semiotizing facilitated guided deconstruction, co-construction and independent construction of academic genres in the pedagogical stages and activities in an EAP class. It is suggested that professional support can help EAP practitioners become more aware of the pedagogical value of multiple linguistic and semiotic resources and the ways in which these resources can be mobilized in the classroom with theory-informed systematic and strategic planning.