ABSTRACT
Negara Brunei Darussalam is a small Malay Islamic Sultanate on the north-western coast of the island of Borneo, bordered on three sides by the Malaysian state of Sarawak and on the other by the South China Sea. Politically, however, the communities who use the minority indigenous languages may readily accept the official government position that the languages are all dialects of Malay. In the educational domain, none of the “puak jati,” nor the other Borneo languages, has any official role or status. English was used for teaching Science, Mathematics, Geography, and the English language subject. The Dwibahasa system was criticised for being rather ‘liberal’ with the definition of ‘bilingual’ by placing greater emphasis on the English language than on Malay. Arabic language is of greater significance in Brunei compared to other ‘foreign’ languages due to its association with Islam, the official religion of the country.
