Learning to Read in Multilingual Malaysia: A Focus on Bahasa Melayu, Tamil, and Chinese

The article examined the challenges faced by children in Malaysia learning to read in Bahasa Melayu, Tamil, and Chinese, each with distinct writing systems. It highlighted the complexity for biscriptal learners who must navigate different phonological and orthographic systems, often while also learning English as a second language. The review covered phonological awareness, a key skill for reading success, and noted that children whose first language shares orthographic similarities with a second language may have an advantage in learning to read that second language. The study underscored the importance of understanding these linguistic dynamics in multilingual education.