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Urang versus Orang: The frequency of Bruneian students’ use of Standard and Brunei Malay
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Abstract:
Despite the various research done about the languages and many linguistic aspects in Brunei
Darussalam, little is known regarding the current frequency and perception towards the official
language, Standard Malay, as the majority of Bruneians prefer to speak in English and Brunei
Malay. This paper investigates how frequent students use Standard Malay within their everyday
life and whether it varies between different districts in Brunei Darussalam. Malay students from
local sixth form institutions in Brunei Muara, Tutong and Kuala Belait participated in this study
(N = 60). Three separate online surveys for each district were conducted. The research
calculates the frequency of Standard Malay tokens in their output of two writing tasks as well
as quantify their language preferences when speaking to familiar people and strangers. It was
found that students from all three districts have low frequency of Standard Malay in comparison
to Brunei Malay especially when speaking to their parents, friends, Malay tutors and Malay
strangers from different age groups. However, English is dominant when speaking to friends,
tutors and strangers from non-Malay ethnicities.
Description:
Date:
2025
Authors:
Ili Arina Zainul
Publisher:
Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam
