The Influence of Bilingualism on Student Translation Methods in Malaysian Schools

Abstract

This conceptual review examines the influence of bilingualism on students’ translation strategies within Malaysian educational contexts. Malaysia’s multilingual landscape requires learners to navigate multiple languages, with English and the mother tongue being the most prevalent, creating complex cognitive and linguistic interactions during classroom tasks. While bilingualism is widely recognized as a cognitive and pedagogical asset, limited research has explored how bilingual learners themselves select and apply translation strategies. This review synthesizes existing literature to highlight the strategies students employ, including literal transfer, paraphrasing, inferencing, and translanguaging. The review identifies gaps in current research, particularly the lack of empirical studies focusing directly on students’ translation methods in Malaysian classrooms. Understanding these processes is significant for informing pedagogical approaches, curriculum design, and professional development for teachers. By consolidating knowledge from prior research, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of bilingual cognition and its practical implications for multilingual education. The findings underscore the importance of aligning classroom instruction with learners’ linguistic realities to enhance academic engagement and translation competence.