Doctoral Candidate Brochure: Joseph Myung Kang

Doctoral Dissertation Defense
of
Joseph Myung Kang

For the degree of

Doctor of Education
Interprofessional Leadership

Investigating the Impact of Incorporating the Community Translanguaging Pedagogy Through Students' Writing Project at a South Korean University

March 12, 2026
9:00 a.m.
Microsoft Teams

Investigating the Impact of Incorporating the Community Translanguaging Pedagogy Through Students' Writing Project at a South Korean University

Korean university students at the beginner to lower-intermediate levels, especially those from rural areas, may feel overwhelmed when participating in an English-Medium Instruction (EMI) course. One reason is that they compare themselves to their higher-English-proficiency classmates. This issue can lead to these students developing low confidence, shyness, and a reluctance to participate in class. As an English instructor at a Korean university in a rural area, educators need to develop effective strategies that establish a strong foundation, build students’ confidence in English, and guide them successfully through the English-Medium Instruction writing course. Using translanguaging as a conceptual framework, this qualitative case study explores how integrating translanguaging theory into an English writing book project impacts students’ writing process and confidence as English writers.

The research was conducted in the academic English writing course at Kangwon National University during the Fall 2025 semester. Twenty-one students in my academic writing course participated in the study. Five students volunteered for the interview. The study found that, for most students, writing strategies guided them and provided assurance during their writing process. Furthermore, incorporating community translanguaging practices within a collaborative learning space enabled students to engage in planning, drafting, and production through multilingual and multimodal strategies that supported meaning-making and reduced writing anxiety. These findings suggest that educators should continue to develop a deeper theoretical understanding of multilingual writing strategies and the role of community translanguaging in EMI English writing courses to better support Korean university students in rural contexts.