Salbrina Sharbawi

@ubd.edu.bn

Senior Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Salbrina Sharbawi


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https://researchid.co/salbrina

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Language and Linguistics, Religious studies
17

Scopus Publications

585

Scholar Citations

14

Scholar h-index

16

Scholar i10-index

Scopus Publications

  • Negotiating bilingual education policy: parental language ideologies and demographic variation in Brunei
    Salbrina Sharbawi
    Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2026
    This study examines how Bruneian parents navigate the national bilingual education policy, with a focus on how sociodemographic factors influence their language ideologies. Based on survey data from 352 parents across Brunei’s four districts, the study surveys the beliefs of parents on the roles of Bahasa Melayu and English in early education. While Bahasa Melayu is symbolically linked to cultural and religious identity, its role as a medium of instruction, especially in technical subjects, elicits mixed views. University-educated parents generally express more scepticism about Malay-medium instruction in high-stakes subjects, whereas those with lower educational attainment are more supportive of it. Gender and ethnic variation also emerge: men tend to show greater support for Malay’s educational role, while women and ethnic minorities display more ambivalence, influenced largely by pragmatic concerns. These findings suggest that parental ideological orientations towards language-in-education are shaped less by monolithic policy endorsement and more by demographic positioning, contributing a grounded, quantitative perspective to Family Language Policy research.
  • Parental perspectives on the role of Bahasa Melayu in Brunei’s bilingual education policy: a national survey on language ideologies, preferences and management
    Salbrina Sharbawi, Jainatul Halida Jaidin
    International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2026
    Brunei’s bilingual education policy officially positions Bahasa Melayu and English as complementary languages of instruction. However, the two occupy unequal spaces in practice: Bahasa Melayu is closely tied to national identity and religious tradition, while English is viewed as the language of academic success and global opportunity. While this tension has been discussed at policy and school levels, less is known about how families interpret and act upon it. This study explores parental engagement with Brunei’s bilingual education landscape, drawing on survey responses from 352 parents of Year 4 pupils across the country’s four districts. Using Spolsky’s tripartite model of language ideology, practice, and management, the findings reveal strong support for Bahasa Melayu in early education and culturally meaningful subjects like Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB), but also a growing inclination towards English in scientific and technical subjects. Although most parents favour bilingual approaches, a notable minority, particularly in rural districts, prefer English-only instruction in key subjects, reflecting anxieties about future competitiveness. District differences further influence parental beliefs and home-language practices. The study highlights parents as active agents navigating cultural values, structural inequalities, and globalised expectations within Brunei’s bilingual policy framework.
  • Brunei’s Bahasa Melayu language-in-education policy: the pupils’ perspective
    Salbrina Sharbawi, Jainatul Halida Jaidin
    Current Issues in Language Planning, 2025
    This study examines the perceived impact of Brunei's Bahasa Melayu language-in-education policy from the perspectives of Year 4 pupils across the nation’s four districts. Drawing on questionnaire data from 361 pupils, it investigates their self-reported proficiency, attitudes, and usage of Bahasa Melayu in familial, academic, and social contexts. Findings reveal generally high self-reported proficiency, especially in listening and reading, with gendered differences favouring female pupils in speaking and writing. Pronounced urban–rural variation emerged. Pupils in Brunei-Muara report stronger proficiency, whereas those in rural Temburong show higher reliance on Bahasa Melayu but lower exposure to English. Pupils expressed overwhelmingly positive attitudes towards Bahasa Melayu, recognising its cultural and academic importance. However, preferences for studying technical subjects in English highlight the functional dominance of bilingualism. Parental support emerged as a significant factor across all districts. Framed within the Critical Language Policy (CLP) approach, the study explores how language policies mediate tensions between cultural preservation and socio-economic mobility. Recommendations include addressing urban–rural imbalances, implementing gender-responsive pedagogy, and promoting balanced bilingualism to support both linguistic identity and global readiness.
  • The Corpus of Brunei English (CoBE): an introduction
    Salbrina Sharbawi, Nur Raihan Mohamad, Aznah Suhaimi, Zayani Zainal Abidin, Amin Marzuki
    Asian Englishes, 2025
    The Corpus of Brunei English (CoBE) is a large-scale collection of English spoken and written by Bruneians obtained from both formal and informal domains. This article presents the ongoing process of building the first corpus for Brunei English with a two-fold goal in mind: to provide a readily available resource centre for researchers who wish to study Brunei English; and to contribute to the existing corpus on World Englishes, thereby placing Brunei English on the corpus map. To date, we have amassed more than 4 million words, and this article describes the process of collecting data and designing a corpus for both spoken and written components. The article also discusses current and future research that will utilise the CoBE database, and the challenges involved in compiling the corpora. Although still at an early stage, it is anticipated that researchers and learners will utilise CoBE to monitor linguistic changes, influence policy, and promote the recognition of Brunei English.
  • English in Brunei
    Salbrina Sharbawi, Zayani Zainal Abidin
    Oxford Handbook of Southeast Asian Englishes, 2024
    This chapter describes the current English linguistic situation in Brunei. Previous literature on Brunei English places this Southeast Asian variety in the nativization phase of Schneider’s Dynamic Model of postcolonial English. Among the reasons cited for its location in the third phase is the lack of English use as a lingua franca and the prevailing influence of exonormative norms. Recent works on English use in Brunei, however, point to a changing linguistic scene that sees English growing in terms of popularity and importance, and evidence of this variety developing its own distinctive pronunciation style. This chapter outlines some of the compelling differences in the findings of the previous studies with those of contemporaneous ones, consequently arguing that English in Brunei is currently in active developmental progression towards the fourth phase of endonormative stabilization.
  • The Malays of Brunei: an investigation of their family language policies
    Salbrina Sharbawi, Noor Hasharina Hassan
    Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 2024
    Studies on Brunei Malay have made inconsistent findings: while some have asserted that this variety is thriving and is in no way endangered, others have found that its use is now waning. As the dynamics of family speech can inform what is happening linguistically at the community level, this study seeks to investigate the family language policies of the Brunei Malays by assessing parents’ language ideologies, practices and management strategies. This is done via a survey involving 178 ethnically Malay parents. The overall results paint an unpromising picture of the future of Brunei Malay, shaped by the parents’ weak beliefs on this Malay variety, and defined further by their home language practices and management strategies. The majority of the Brunei Malay families are bilingual, but English features prominently in most investigated items. The findings reveal that the parents are motivated to maintain Brunei Malay but have little confidence in their abilities to pass down the home language to their children. That a majority agrees for the introduction of lessons on Brunei Malay in schools is an indicator that the home domain is no longer adequate for the maintenance of this Malay variety.
  • Brunei English: A New Variety in a Multilingual Society: Second Edition
    Salbrina Sharbawi, David Deterding, Nur Raihan Mohamad
    Multilingual Education, 2024
  • The Americanisation of English in Brunei
    Salbrina Sharbawi
    World Englishes, 2023
    Abstract Previous studies investigating postulations that Brunei English was being shaped by American English did not yield any conclusive findings. In recent years, claims of young English‐speaking Bruneians sounding American have become more persistent, thereby precipitating this research. Data was collected from 38 Bruneian Malays who are in their late teens and mid‐twenties and over 900 tokens representative of American English features were analysed. Outcomes reveal that Brunei English is indeed diverging from its traditional exonormative norm, British English, and is displaying new and incipient pronunciations that are indicative of on‐going sound changes. While Americanisation accounts for some of these changes, it is not the only force at play. The findings of this study provide ample evidence that Brunei English is in active state of dynamic change and is steadily progressing towards the next stage of its evolutionary cycle.
  • Investigating language and religiosity in Brunei
    Salbrina Sharbawi
    Contemporary Islam, 2023
    The inexplicable link between the Malay language and Islam has been well-documented in Malaysia. In Brunei, however, this association has not been made explicit and could only be inferred through the state’s stance of utilising only the Malay language for Islamic-related matters, most conspicuously in the Islamic education curriculum. While this practice has been in place since the early days of Islamic education in the country, the changing linguistic situation in Brunei, where English is now more popular than Malay among the younger generation, may require some rethinking of this practice. An earlier study investigating the issues of language and religion in Brunei has found that those who are more English-inclined do not identify strongly with the Muslim identity as their Malay-leaning counterparts. Taking its cue from those findings, the present study extends the investigation in two ways: one, by adding the social variables age, gender and educational background in its analysis; and two, by focusing on the notion of religiosity rather than on religious identity alone. The findings show that age and language proclivity are both predictors of religiosity with older Bruneians displaying greater religiosity than the younger ones. Language also plays a factor such that those who are predisposed to using more English than Malay have fewer manifestations of practices aligned to the Islamic teaching. Gender and educational level, however, have low factor loadings and are not contributory to the measurement of religiosity.
  • English use in Brunei: Investigating the Gen Z
    Salbrina Sharbawi
    Asian Englishes, 2023
    Neoteric studies on the sociolinguistics of Brunei point to a changing linguistic scene that sees English growing in terms of popularity and importance particularly among young Bruneians. So popular is the language that some are also claiming to speak it as their mother tongue. This article seeks to explore this matter further by investigating contemporaneous English use vis-à-vis Malay in Brunei among Generation Z Bruneians. The findings reveal that young Bruneians are highly competent multilinguals, who hold English in high regard. Consequently, they claim English to be the language they are most proficient in. However, what is most intriguing is their association of English with the Bruneian identity, something that was almost unheard of before.
  • Zoomers in Brunei Darussalam: Language Use, Social Interaction and Identity
    Zayani Zainal Abidin, Salbrina Sharbawi
    Asia in Transition, 2023
  • Malay, Muslim and Monarchy: An Introduction to Brunei Darussalam and Its National Identity
    Salbrina Sharbawi, Shaikh Abdul Mabud
    International and Development Education, 2021
  • An English-centric monolingual Brunei? Predictions and reality
    Salbrina Sharbawi
    Asian Englishes, 2020
  • Brunei’s SPN21 English language-in-education policy: A macro-to-micro evaluation
    Salbrina Sharbawi, Jainatul Halida Jaidin
    Current Issues in Language Planning, 2020
  • Revisiting the vowels of Brunei English
    SALBRINA SHARBAWI
    World Englishes, 2012
  • Rhoticity in Brunei English
    Salbrina Sharbawi, David Deterding
    English World Wide, 2010
  • The vowels of Brunei English: An acoustic investigation
    Salbrina Sharbawi
    English World Wide, 2006

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Negotiating bilingual education policy: parental language ideologies and demographic variation in Brunei
    S Sharbawi
    Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1-28 , 2026
    2026
  • Parental perspectives on the role of Bahasa Melayu in Brunei’s bilingual education policy: a national survey on language ideologies, preferences and management
    S Sharbawi, JH Jaidin
    International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 29 (1), 1-23 , 2026
    2026
    Citations: 1
  • Brunei’s Bahasa Melayu language-in-education policy: the pupils’ perspective
    S Sharbawi, JH Jaidin
    Current Issues in Language Planning, 1-22 , 2025
    2025
    Citations: 1
  • The Corpus of Brunei English (CoBE): an introduction
    S Sharbawi, NR Mohamad, A Suhaimi, Z Zainal Abidin, A Marzuki
    Asian Englishes 27 (2), 498-517 , 2025
    2025
  • The Islamic Worldview and Language Proclivity: The Case of Modern Brunei
    S Sharbawi
    OKARA: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra 18 (2), 203-222 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 1
  • The Malays of Brunei: An investigation of their family language policies
    S Sharbawi, NH Hassan
    Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 45 (4), 884-905 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 26
  • English in Brunei
    S Sharbawi, ZZ Abidin
    The Oxford Handbook of Southeast Asian Englishes, 171 , 2024
    2024
  • Brunei English
    S Sharbawi, D Deterding, NR Mohamad
    2024
    Citations: 1
  • The Americanisation of English in Brunei
    S Sharbawi
    World Englishes 42 (4), 698-714 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 1
  • Zoomers in Brunei Darussalam: Language Use, Social Interaction and Identity
    ZZ Abidin, S Sharbawi
    (Re) presenting Brunei Darussalam: A Sociology of the Everyday, 257-278 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 2
  • Language Use, Social Interaction
    ZZ Abidin, S Sharbawi
    (Re) presenting Brunei Darussalam: A Sociology of the Everyday, 257 , 2023
    2023
  • Investigating language and religiosity in Brunei
    S Sharbawi
    Contemporary Islam 17 (1), 157-185 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 4
  • English use in Brunei: Investigating the Gen Z
    S Sharbawi
    Asian Englishes 25 (1), 20-44 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 15
  • Malay, Muslim and monarchy: An introduction to Brunei Darussalam and its national identity
    S Sharbawi, SA Mabud
    Globalisation, education, and reform in Brunei Darussalam, 45-66 , 2021
    2021
    Citations: 22
  • An English-centric monolingual Brunei? Predictions and reality
    S Sharbawi
    Asian Englishes 22 (3), 257-281 , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 27
  • Brunei’s SPN21 English language-in-education policy: A macro-to-micro evaluation
    S Sharbawi, JH Jaidin
    Current Issues in Language Planning 21 (2), 175-201 , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 41
  • Reevaluating rhoticity in Brunei English: The case of the Kedayan
    S Sharbawi, A Hasnan
    Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal 18, 22-37 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 11
  • English for ASEAN Integration: Policies and practices in the region
    TW Bigalke, S Sharbawi
    Brunei: Universiti Brunei Darussalam , 2015
    2015
    Citations: 17
  • Brunei’s role in ASEAN integration: English language as capital
    NA Haji-Othman, S Sharbawi
    ASEAN integration and the role of English language teaching, 72-87 , 2015
    2015
    Citations: 16
  • Brunei English: A new variety in a multilingual society
    D Deterding, S Sharbawi
    Springer Science & Business Media , 2013
    2013
    Citations: 146

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Brunei English: A new variety in a multilingual society
    D Deterding, S Sharbawi
    Springer Science & Business Media , 2013
    2013
    Citations: 146
  • Rhoticity in Brunei English
    S Sharbawi, D Deterding
    English World-Wide 31 (2), 121-137 , 2010
    2010
    Citations: 73
  • ELT intricacies within the Indonesian language policy
    FA Hamied, TW Bigalke, S Sharbawi
    English for ASEAN Integration: Policies and practices in the region, 32-40 , 2013
    2013
    Citations: 44
  • Brunei’s SPN21 English language-in-education policy: A macro-to-micro evaluation
    S Sharbawi, JH Jaidin
    Current Issues in Language Planning 21 (2), 175-201 , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 41
  • The vowels of Brunei English: An acoustic investigation
    S Sharbawi
    English World-Wide 27 (3), 247-264 , 2006
    2006
    Citations: 41
  • The vowels of Brunei English: An acoustic investigation
    S Salbrina
    English World-Wide 27 (3), 247-264 , 2006
    2006
    Citations: 34
  • The sounds of Brunei English–14 years on
    S Sharbawi
    South East Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal 10, 39-56 , 2010
    2010
    Citations: 28
  • An English-centric monolingual Brunei? Predictions and reality
    S Sharbawi
    Asian Englishes 22 (3), 257-281 , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 27
  • The Malays of Brunei: An investigation of their family language policies
    S Sharbawi, NH Hassan
    Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 45 (4), 884-905 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 26
  • Malay, Muslim and monarchy: An introduction to Brunei Darussalam and its national identity
    S Sharbawi, SA Mabud
    Globalisation, education, and reform in Brunei Darussalam, 45-66 , 2021
    2021
    Citations: 22
  • English for ASEAN Integration: Policies and practices in the region
    TW Bigalke, S Sharbawi
    Brunei: Universiti Brunei Darussalam , 2015
    2015
    Citations: 17
  • Brunei’s role in ASEAN integration: English language as capital
    NA Haji-Othman, S Sharbawi
    ASEAN integration and the role of English language teaching, 72-87 , 2015
    2015
    Citations: 16
  • English use in Brunei: Investigating the Gen Z
    S Sharbawi
    Asian Englishes 25 (1), 20-44 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 15
  • Revisiting the vowels of Brunei English
    S Sharbawi
    World Englishes 31 (2), 177-197 , 2012
    2012
    Citations: 15
  • An acoustic investigation of the segmental features of educated Brunei English speech
    Salbrina biniti Haji Sharbawi
    National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University , 2009
    2009
    Citations: 12
  • Reevaluating rhoticity in Brunei English: The case of the Kedayan
    S Sharbawi, A Hasnan
    Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal 18, 22-37 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 11
  • An acoustic investigation of the segmental features of educated Brunei English speech
    SH Sharbawi
    2010
    Citations: 5
  • Investigating language and religiosity in Brunei
    S Sharbawi
    Contemporary Islam 17 (1), 157-185 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 4
  • Zoomers in Brunei Darussalam: Language Use, Social Interaction and Identity
    ZZ Abidin, S Sharbawi
    (Re) presenting Brunei Darussalam: A Sociology of the Everyday, 257-278 , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 2
  • Parental perspectives on the role of Bahasa Melayu in Brunei’s bilingual education policy: a national survey on language ideologies, preferences and management
    S Sharbawi, JH Jaidin
    International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 29 (1), 1-23 , 2026
    2026
    Citations: 1