Background

Salbrina Sharbawi received her undergraduate degree in Linguistics from University College London (B.A 2000), and her M.A in Applied Linguistics from the University of York (M.A 2003). She was conferred the Doctor of Philosophy degree from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (Ph.D 2009).

Her intellectual interests lie in the realm of Sociophonetics, an area of overlap between Sociolinguistics and Phonetics, with a particular focus on the English spoken in Brunei.

Teaching

Salbrina joined UBD in 2001 as a tutor and was appointed as a lecturer in July 2003. She was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2012 and to Senior Assistant Professor in 2018.

Her teaching has included undergraduate Linguistics courses on World Englishes and Pragmatics. At graduate level, she is involved in the delivery of AQ-5105 / AQ-6101 Research Methodology, teaching the academic discourse and communication components of the module.

Academic Areas

• Sociophonetics
• Language variation and change
• World Englishes
• Brunei English and English in Brunei
• Language policy and planning
• Linguistic landscape

Research

With colleagues and students, Salbrina is currently working on the following research topics:

• Bahasa Melayu language-in-education policy of Brunei’s SPN21
• Language census in Brunei
• The interplay between Malay and English in Brunei
• That’s mean and It’s mean – an emerging feature of New Englishes?
• Rhoticity and the Kedayans of Brunei
• Linguistic landscape of the Gadong commercial area
• Americanisation of the English in Brunei
• Wanna in written Brunei English

Publications

Books

Bigalke, T., & Salbrina, S. (2015). (Eds). English for ASEAN integration: Policies and practices in the region. Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

Deterding, D., & Salbrina, S. (2013). Brunei English: A New Variety in a Multilingual Society. Dordrecht: Springer. ISBN: 978-94-007-6346-3. (Publisher's Link) (On-line Review)

Salbrina, S. (2011). Brunei English: An Acoustic Investigation of the Segmental Features. Germany: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. ISBN: 978-3845441863.

Journal Articles

Salbrina, S. & Noor Hasharina, H. (2021). The Malays of Brunei: An investigation of their family language policies. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. DOI: 10.1080/01434632.2021.1931245

Salbrina, S. & Zayani, Z. A. (2021). Language and the Malay Muslim identity: The investigation continues. Thought Paper Series No. 7. Journal of Islamic Governance. islamicgovernance.org/tp7

Salbrina, S., & Zayani, Z. A. (2021). Language and the Malay Muslim identity: An insight into Brunei. Thought Paper Series No. 6. Journal of Islamic Governance. islamicgovernance.org/tp6

Salbrina, S. (2020). An English-centric monolingual Brunei? Predictions and reality. Asian Englishes, 3, 257-281. DOI: 10.1080/13488678.2019.1709335

Salbrina S., & Jainatul H. J. (2020). Brunei’s SPN21 English language-in-education policy: A macro-to-micro evaluation. Current Issues in Language Planning, 21(2), 175-201. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2019.165726.

Salbrina Sharbawi & Jainatul Halida Jaidin (2019). Brunei’s SPN21 English language-in-education policy: A macro-to-micro evaluation. Current Issues in Language Planning. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2019.1657267.

Salbrina Sharbawi & Afi Hasnan (2018). Reevaluating rhoticity in Brunei English: The case of the Kedayans, South East Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 18, 22–37. (PDF Version).

Sabrina, S. (2012). Revisiting the vowels of Brunei English. World Englishes, 31(2), 177–197.

Salbrina, S. (2010). The sounds of Brunei English: 15 years on. South East Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 10, 39–56. (PDF version).

Salbrina, S., & Deterding, D. (2010). Rhoticity in Brunei English. English World-Wide, 31(2), 121–137.

Salbrina, H. S. (2006). The vowels of Brunei English: An acoustic investigation. English World-Wide, 27, 247–264.

Book Chapters

Salbrina, S., & Mabud, S. A. (2021). Malay, muslim and monarchy: An introduction to Brunei Darussalam and its national identity. In L. H. Phan, A. Kumpoh, K. Wood, R. Jawawi, & H. Said (Eds.), Globalization, education, and reform in Brunei Darussalam. Palgrave MacMillan.

Haji Suhaila, H.A.K., & Salbrina, S. (2015). Overview on the state of English policy and practice in Brunei Darussalam. English for ASEAN integration: Policies and practices in the region. Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

Noor Azam, H.O., & Salbrina, S.(2015) Brunei’s role in ASEAN Integration: English as capital. ASEAN integration and the role of English language teaching. IDP Education.

Salbrina, H. S. (2005). The reduction and simplification of final consonant clusters in Brunei English: The case of plosive-deletion and modification. In Dato Paduka Seri Setia Profesor Dr Hj Mahmud Saedon Bin Awang Othman Dalam Kenangan: Essays in Memory of Vice-Chancellor, UBD, 1999-2002 (pp. 302–312). Brunei: Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

Dissertations

Salbrina, H. S. (2002). The production of length and quality contrasts in vowels by Brunei Malay learners of English. Unpublished master’s dissertation, University of York, UK.

Conference Papers

Salbrina, S. (2011). Rhoticity in Brunei English: Evidence of Americanization? Paper presented at the 17th Annual Conference of the International Association for World Englishes, Melbourne, Australia, November 23 – 25.

Salbrina, S. (2011). Analysis of ELF interactions between Malay speakers from Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. Paper presented at the 4th English as a Lingua Franca Conference, Hong Kong, May 26–28.

Salbrina, S. (2005). An acoustic investigation of the vowels of Brunei English. Paper presented at the 10th English in Southeast Asia Conference, Brunei, December 12–15.

Invited talk

Embracing change: Exploring the challenges and opportunities of the English Language Enrichment Project for ASEAN. Keynote speech presented at the University of Santo Tomas Department of English 3rd National Conference, Manila, Philippines, 28 – 29 May, 2015.

An acoustic investigation of the Brunei English vowels. National Institute of Education Phonetics Symposium. July 28, 2007.