Deputy Director
BA Hons (Lancs.), PGCE (Brunei), MA (Wales), PhD (Leicester)

Noor Azam is interested in sociolinguistic research, in particular, research on language use in Brunei, and the indigenous languages of Brunei. He also teaches linguistics courses in the Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics, which he joined in 1997. Prior to that, Noor Azam taught English at Maktab Duli PMAM Billah Sixth Form College beginning in 1995. His doctoral research was titled ‘Changes in the Linguistic Diversity of Negara Brunei Darussalam: An Ecological Perspective’, which studied Brunei’s diminishing state of linguistic diversity and its sociocultural implications. He has also published and co-written work on English language as it is used by Bruneians.

Senior Lecturer of English

BA, Dip Ed Singapore, MA York.[ Learning and Inferencing Strategies, Academic Literacies in Multilingual Contexts ]

Lecturer of Arabic
working in UBD since July 1988

B.A.(Guidance and Islamic Education), Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan; M.A. In Teaching Arabic As a Second Language (TASL), Khartoum. He taught Arabic Language and Tafsir, in Semarang, Indonesia, (2 years). Since 1988 he joins the UBD, and teaches Arabic Language and Methodology of Teaching Arabic. He was the head, Department of Arabic Language And Islamic Civilization.   His research interest is on Teaching Methodology of Arabic Language, Linguistics and Applied Linguistics (Arabic).The Teaching Grammar at Arabic Schools in Brunei Darussalam. Contrastive Study between Arabic Language and Malay Language/ Indonesian Language, Arabic Loan words in Malay Language in Brunei.

Lecturer of Arabic
working in UBD since July 1993

Lecturer of Arabic
working in UBD since July 1994

B.A. Brunei; M.A. (Arabic Studies), UKM; Advanced Level Certificate (Arabic Intensive Programme), American University in Cairo. His M.A. dissertation researched Teaching Arabic as a second language in Brunei Darussalam.He taught Arabic as second Language in Universiti Brunei Darussalam since 1994.

Lecturer of Arabic
working in UBD since July 1995

B.A. (State University of Islamic Studies (IAIN), Indonesia), DRS (Doctorandus/M.A., State University of Islamic Studies  (IAIN), Indonesia);  L.C. (Licentiate, Shari’ah Islamic University of Al-Madinah  Al-Munawwarah, Saudia); Syahadah Alamiyyah, (Ushuluddin, Islamic University of Muhammad Idris Al-Sanousi, Al-Baida Kingdom of Libya); Syahadah Tadris Al-Lughah al-Arabiyyah, (Institute of Teaching Arabic, University of Al-Imam Saudi Arabia, Jakarta);  Diploma (International Institute of Arabic, Khartoum Sudan, in the field of Teaching Arabic for Non-Arabic Speakers (TASFL); M.A. (International Institute of Arabic, Khartoum Sudan, in the field of Teaching Arabic for Non-Arabic Speakers (TASFL); Ph.D. (Department of Arabic, Oriental College, University of The Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan).

Senior Lecturer of Arabic
working in UBD since May 2002

Dr Hassan Mohamed Abdel-Maksoud holds a Ph.D in Arabic Lingustics from Ain Shams University, Egypt.  He taught Arabic language and Islamic religion in Egyptian preparatory and secondary schools from 1985 until 1997, when he took up a post as a lecturer in Arabic language and Linguistics at Ain Shams University.  He was a member of the Ain Shams committee for the supervision of Masters research.

Dr Hassan’s study fields include Arabic grammar, linguistics, Islamic studies and teaching Arabic to non-Arabs.  He has published extensively, both original textbooks and editions of classical texts.  His publications include Almufassal; An Introduction to Arabic Grammar, An Introduction to Arabic Morphology; A Modern Reading for Linguistic References and Arabic Dictionaries, UBD Student’s Error Analysis; The Deletion in Kitabi Sybawayhi; The Breaking and Inception in Kitabi Sybawayhi; Anastrophe in Kitabi Almuqradab; and The Semantic context of Kataba in the Holy Qur’an.

Dr Hassan is currently a lecturer in the Language Centre, UBD. He is part of the editorial team preparing an Arabic language journal for publication by the Language Centre, and is working with colleagues on a series of textbooks for beginning learners of Arabic.

Assistant Lecturer of Japanese
working in UBD since May 2003

Minako Iwata Keaney, B.B.A. (Komazawa University, Tokyo, Japan). Completed training in teaching Japanese as a second language at Tokyo Language and Culture Centre (TLCC) in Sydney, Australia as well as through the NAFL Institute, Tokyo. Minako taught Japanese at TLCC for five years before coming to Brunei. She currently teaches Japanese language courses at UBD as well as teaching Japanese for the UBD Language Centre’s Continuing Education Programme. Her current interest is Japanese teaching methodology in the multilingual Bruneian context. She is involved in the promotion of cultural relations between Brunei and Japan and assists with a range of activities carried out by the Japanese Embassy and the Brunei-Japan Friendship Association.

Lecturer of Arabic
working in UBD since May 2004

BA (Arabic literature and Islamic Studies), Dar al-`Ulum, Cairo University; General Diploma of Education, El-Mansura University; M.A. Teaching Arabic as a second Language, UKM; Ph.D. Arabic Studies and Islamic Civilization, UKM. He taught Arabic Language in Yemen (1994-1995), Saudi Arabia (1995-1996), Kiblah Secondary School, Malaysia (1996-1998), U.P.M., Malaysia (1998), Intisar College, Malaysia (1998-2003) and  Islamic University College of Malaysia ( 2003 – 2004). He is a Counselor of Arabic language in Malaysian National Institute of Translation and Islamic and Arabic Higher Educational Institute.

Associate Professor of English
working in UBD since November 2004

BA (Hons) in English Literature, Diploma in Education, Med in TESL, PhD in Applied Linguisitics (University of Malaya). Diploma in Computers in Education (University of Southern California). Associate Professor, Mani Le Vasan first served at the University of Malaya. She was head of multimedia, coordinated and conducted courses at the undergraduate and post graduate levels and teacher training. Supervised PhD and Masters students and was external examiner for both as well. She has also written textbooks for Malaysian schools at primary and secondary levels. She then worked at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore at the School of Computer Engineering and at the Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice and was actively involved in school- based research and innovation. She has published extensively both nationally and internationally. Her research interests include: semiotics, pedagogy, teacher education, TESL and ESP.

Lecturer of French and English
working in UBD since July 2006

B.A. in Applied Foreign Languages to international trade (English, Spanish, Russian), University of Wales, Swansea, United Kingdom (1995);
M.A. in Applied Foreign Languages, Universidad de Cádiz, Spain (1996);
B.A. in Law, Université de Grenoble, France (1998);
Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Translation (theory), Cergy University, Paris (1999), and;
M.A. in Private Law, Université de Grenoble, France (2000), France.

Samuel Gandin worked as an employed translator with various international organizations and law firms in Geneva (United Nations), Rome (Unidroit), Paris (Clifford Chance) and as a freelance translator for various European institutions. He lectured general and legal translation at the National University of Rwanda. He also lectured French for non French speakers at Bai Chai University, South Korea, and taught English in various locations in Thailand. He was a lawyer-linguist for the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany and joined the Language Centre of UBD in July 2006.
His areas of interest include Translation, Terminology and Semantics, International Law and Comparative Law.

Lecturer of Italian and Spanish
working in UBD since August 2006

Paolo Coluzzi is Italian, from Milan, but he has lived and worked as a language teacher in England, Spain and the Netherlands for many years. He graduated in modern languages (English and Spanish) at the University of Westminster (London) and obtained his Masters at the University of Exeter (UK) on minority languages in Spain with a thesis on language teaching methods (particularly teach-yourself) applicable to minority languages (Galician). Successively, he gained a studentship at the University of Bristol where he obtained his PhD with a thesis on language planning and minority nationalism in Italy and Spain. He has given various papers at conferences and seminars in Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Hungary and is the author of various articles, among which are the working paper n.14 published in 2004 by Ciemen in Barcelona (Regional and Minority Languages in Italy. An General Introduction on the Present Situation and a Comparison of Two Case Studies: Language Planning for Milanese (Western Lombard) and Friulian), an article on language planning in the Cimbrian area in Italy (‘Language Planning for the Smallest Language Minority in Italy: the Cimbrians of Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige’) published on the journal Language Problems and Language Planning in 2005 and an article on micronationalism and language planning in Italy (‘Minority Language Planning and Micronationalism in Italy: the Cases of Lombardy and Friuli’) published on the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development in 2006. His book Minority Language Planning and Micronationalism in Italy: An analysis of the Situation of Friulian, Cimbrian and Western Lombard with Reference to Spanish Minority Languages was published in June 2007 by Peter Lang.

His research interests are in the area of language planning, language vitality and endangerment, language ecology and language ideologies and myths as well as sociolinguistics in more general terms.

Daily Rated Tutor for Malay
working in UBD since February 2008

B.A in Malay Language and Linguistics (Universiti Brunei Darussalam) in 2007. Before working as Tutor, Hajah Zurinah was an Education Officer in the Ministry of Religious Affairs and a News Editor for Radio Television Brunei.