Abstract:

Translation is considered fundamental in teaching ESL students, as it involves interpretation, negotiation, and expression of meaning. However, there are views against translation in ESL classrooms even though the method has been applied in teaching and learning (Pym, 2017; Cook, 2010, 2018). As a result, ESL students who are weak in English are not given the opportunity to excel in the second language from their own bilingual strength. The present Malaysian curriculum for the secondary school, known as Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Menengah (KSSM) or its translated version, Standard-Based English Language Curriculum for Secondary School (SBELC) does not favour translation in the process of teaching and learning, as the government is trying to produce future generation who are fluent in English language. In order to achieve this target, the Ministry of Education has organised series of trainings for English language teachers since 2013. The English Language Education Roadmap 2015-2025 and the Malaysian European Framework of Reference (CEFR) are considered main references for the training plans. The implementation of CEFR in Malaysian schools has started in 2018. All teaching materials and modules are alligned to achieve various levels of CEFR standard.

This paper presents a study on 20 TESL teacher trainees from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, who have been placed in 6 schools (both urban and rural), during their teaching practicum. Data were gathered through a questionnaire, semi-structured interview and a focus group discussion. The study reveals that teacher trainees in both urban and rural Sabah have used translation during their lessons. Those assigned to rural schools have translated more for comprehension, word meaning and proficiency reasons, while those assigned to urban schools used translation to help students with lower proficiency levels. Among the reasons given by these teacher trainees are helping students to understand the lesson better, facilitating language proficiency and remembering meaning of words. This study suggests that all teacher trainees have translated during their lessons, even though the extent differs from one another. However, they still adhered to the teaching requirements prescribed by the Malaysian Ministry of Education, in terms of material selection, teaching hours, activities and assessment.

Keywords:

Pre-service Teacher Training, ESL, Translation, Rural Education.