I am currently a Lecturer at the Department of Arabic Language and Middle Eastern Languages, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya (UM), Malaysia. My academic and professional trajectory has been shaped by sustained engagements with the Arabic language and linguistics, translation, interpreting, and the pragmatics of cross-cultural communication. I am now reading for a PhD in Translation and Interpreting (Interpreting Studies) at Universiti Sains Malaysia, where I explore the intricacies of (im)politeness in Arabic-English simultaneous interpreting. My research investigates how interpreters navigate shifts in (im)politeness strategies under real-time cognitive constraints. Positioned at the intersection of pragmatics, interpreting studies, cognitive linguistics, and cognitive psychology, this work aims to illuminate the interplay between linguistic (im)politeness, real-time cross-cultural mediation, and the psychological demands of interpreting in high-stakes settings. This doctoral inquiry builds upon my MA in Linguistics from UM, where I examined implicature in the Quran through a pragmatic lens, sharpening my sensitivity to inferencing, intention, and context in meaning-making. My foundational training began with a BA in Arabic Language and Linguistics from Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco, where I graduated with distinction (comparable to summa cum laude in Western academic systems) and was honoured as the university's Best Student in 2019. These academic foundations laid the critical groundwork for my current scholarly focus. Beyond academia, I am a certified translator with the Institut Terjemahan & Buku Malaysia (ITBM; Malaysian Institute of Translation & Books), with extensive experience in translating, editing, and proofreading scholarly texts, theses, and books. I welcome insights most notably from language service providers and industry stakeholders to support research on interpreter ethics, translator/interpreter training, and discourse in professional translation and interpreting contexts.

Dr Tengku Sarina Aini Binti Tengku Kasim is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Islamic History, Civilization and Education, Academy of Islamic Studies, University of Malaya. She graduated with a bachelor degree in Islamic Education (BIsEd) in 1996 and a master degree in Education (MEd-Guidance and Counselling) in 2000 from University of Malaya. She then received her PhD in Education from Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand in 2012. Her areas of research interest include Islamic Education (curriculum and psychology), Teacher Education (Islamic Education teaching and learning) and Guidance and Counselling from Islamic perspective. Her research cover topics such as Islamic Education teachers’ professional development, Islamic Educational curriculum development, educational psychology (Islamic perspective), psychosocial development, religiosity and spiritual, moral and ethics etc.