Translanguaging and Multilingual Identity Construction: A Systematic Review of Trends, Contexts, and Approaches

Research on translanguaging and multilingual identity construction has expanded across educational and social settings; however, evidence remains dispersed across contexts, participant groups, methods, and theoretical perspectives. This systematic review synthesises research specifically addressing their intersection. Searches of Scopus and Web of Science conducted on 12 March 2026 identified 159 records. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, 36 English-language journal articles meeting predefined relevance and indexing criteria were included, with coverage of 2026 therefore being partial. The review addressed four questions concerning study characteristics, research designs and theoretical frameworks, dominant themes and findings, and remaining research gaps. Included studies were descriptively mapped and qualitatively synthesised across these dimensions. Thirty-one of the 36 studies were published after 2022, with research concentrated in Asia, North America, and Europe, predominantly in school, classroom, and higher-education settings, using learner-centred samples. Methodologically, 32 studies employed qualitative designs, while mixed methods and quantitative research remained rare; translanguaging theory was dominant, alongside identity positioning, language ideology, multimodality, and critical multilingual perspectives. The most prominent themes were identity negotiation and construction, classroom participation and translanguaging pedagogy, and language ideology, power, and heritage-language preservation. Across these themes, translanguaging functioned as a resource for multilingual identity work, but its effects depended on institutional norms, recognition, and power relations. The review identifies geographical, methodological, contextual, and stakeholder gaps, supporting comparative, longitudinal, and methodologically diverse research, as well as more context-sensitive recognition of multilingual repertoires in education.