Policy-mediated translanguaging in Chinese EMI-TNHE: student attitudes, learning practices and academic performance

English-medium instruction (EMI) in transnational higher education (TNHE) is often governed by English-dominant expectations, although students routinely draw on bilingual resources to learn. Research rarely connects students’ translanguaging attitudes with learning-related measures and the policy conditions shaping bilingual resources use and recognition. Drawing on (Spolsky's, B. (2009). Language management. Cambridge University Press) framework of language beliefs, practices and management, this mixed-methods study examined survey data from 222 Chinese EMI-TNHE undergraduates and interviews with 12 students. Students reported favourable translanguaging attitudes, with no significant overall difference between Business and STEM students. Attitudes were positively but modestly associated with self-rated English proficiency and academic performance. Interviews revealed that bilingual resources supported conceptual understanding, annotation, resource searching and assessment preparation, particularly in self-directed learning. However, classroom flexibility depended largely on teachers’ language choices, while English-medium assessment marked the clearest boundary of formally recognised performance. We conceptualise this configuration as a policy-mediated division of linguistic labour, in which Mandarin supported comprehension and preparation, while English retained greater authority in disciplinary terminology and formal assessment. The findings show that favourable translanguaging attitudes and bilingual learning practices can coexist with an English-dominant institutional hierarchy, highlighting how linguistic resources are functionally differentiated and institutionally recognised in EMI-TNHE.