Curriculum Vitae

DR. NUR NAJAH RADHIAH BINTI ZAINAL ABIDIN

Senior Lecturer
  • Department of English Language
    Faculty of Languages and Linguistics
  • najah
  • 0379673061

BIOGRAPHY

Najah Zainal Abidin is a Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Languages and Linguistics. She specialises in pragmatics and discourse analysis, with a focus on language use in social media. Her research explores online aggressive language and the role of linguistic expression in shaping identity and power structures.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION

  • PhD, (Pragmatics)
    Universiti Malaya (um)
  • MLing, (Linguistics)
    Universiti Malaya (um)
  • B.HumScEngLang&Lit, (Linguistics)
    International Islamic University Malaysia (iium)

ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES

  • Graduate Employability (Postgraduate)
    01 May 2025 - 30 Apr 2027 (University Malaya)
  • Asean University Network Quality Assurance (AUN-QA) Self-Assessment Report
    02 Feb 2025 - 01 Feb 2026 (Faculty)
  • UM-KPT PACE
    12 Jul 2023 - 11 Jul 2024 (University Malaya)

MEMBERSHIPS

  • INTERNATIONAL PRAGMATICS ASSOCIATION (IPRA), MEMBER
    2025 to 2025 (International)
  • INTERNATIONAL PRAGMATICS ASSOCIATION (IPRA), MEMBER
    2023 to 2024 (International)

AWARD AND STEWARDSHIP

  • Certificate of Excellent Service
    2025, Universiti Malaya

PUBLICATIONS

Article in Journal
ESCI
  1. Abidin, Najah Zainal; Samaha, Hanaa; Zulkarnain, Nur Azwin (2025). "Dajjal (False Messiah) Fried Chicken": Impolite Judgment as a Tool for Moral Accountability, HOWARD JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATIONS. . doi:10.1080/10646175.2025.2521079
  2. How, Cherish; Abidin, Najah Zainal; Zulkarnain, Nur Azwin (2025). "Your funny don't land": impoliteness and resonance in YouTube comments towards a stand-up comedian, TEXTO LIVRE-LINGUAGEM E TECNOLOGIA. 18. doi:10.1590/1983-3652.2025.58180
  3. Abidin, Najah Zainal; Lowe, Veronica; Jan, Jariah Mohd (2023). Evasion in Malaysian Parliamentary Question Time, PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES. 31(3), 1079-1097. doi:10.47836/pjssh.31.3.09
Scopus
  1. How C., Abidin N.Z., Zulkarnain N.A. (2025). Your funny don t land : impoliteness and resonance in YouTube comments towards a stand-up comedian, Texto Livre. 18. doi:10.1590/1983-3652.2025.58180
  2. Zainal Abidin N., Samaha H., Zulkarnain N.A. (2025). Dajjal (False Messiah) Fried Chicken : Impolite Judgment as a Tool for Moral Accountability, Howard Journal of Communications. . doi:10.1080/10646175.2025.2521079
  3. Abidin N.Z., Lowe V., Jan J.M. (2023). Evasion in Malaysian Parliamentary Question Time, Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities. 31(3), 1079-1097. doi:10.47836/pjssh.31.3.09
Other Publications
  1. The Star. (2025, December 9). The hidden cost of ‘rage bait’. https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2025/12/09/the-hidden-cost-of-rage-bait - Mass Media(newspaper,radio,tv,popular Magazine)
  2. Zainal Abidin, N. (2025, December 10). The Hidden Cost Of Rage Bait. BERNAMA. https://www.bernama.com/en/thoughts/news.php?id=2500443 - Mass Media(newspaper,radio,tv,popular Magazine)
  3. Zainal Abidin, N. (2025, December 7). Five-step guide to break cycle of online hostility. New Straits Times. https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2025/12/1333186/five-step-guide-break-cycle-online-hostility - Mass Media(newspaper,radio,tv,popular Magazine)
  4. Zainal Abidin, N. (2025, December 7). The hidden cost of rage bait. Malay Mail. https://www.malaymail.com/news/what-you-think/2025/12/07/the-hidden-cost-of-rage-bait-najah-zainal-abidin/201041 - Mass Media(newspaper,radio,tv,popular Magazine)
  5. Zainal Abidin, N. (2025, December 8). Hidden cost of rage bait. The Sun Malaysia. https://thesun.my/opinion/hidden-cost-of-rage-bait/ - Mass Media(newspaper,radio,tv,popular Magazine)
  6. Zainal Abidin, N. N.-R. (2025, August 27). Not every issue is about race. Malay Mail. https://www.malaymail.com/news/what-you-think/2025/08/27/not-every-issue-is-about-race-nur-najah-radhiah-zainal-abidin/189042 - Mass Media(newspaper,radio,tv,popular Magazine)

RESEARCH INTEREST

  • Pragmatics ((Im)politeness, hate speech, incitement (racial, religious violence), evasive language, giving and taking offenses, jocular mockery, jocular flattery, humor)
  • Discourse Analysis (Language and politics, language and gender, language and society, language and power)
  • Appraisal Theory (Affect, judgement, appreciation)

RESEARCH PROJECT

National
  1. 2023 - 2025, Bantuan Khas Penyelidikan (BKP Special)
    Between the Lines: Unravelling Hate Speech in Malaysia ( Principal Investigator(PI))
University
  1. 2025 - 2027, Bantuan Khas Penyelidikan (BKP Special)
    The Language Trap: Forensic Stylometry for Authorship Attribution in Malaysian Cybercrime ( Co-Researcher)
  2. 2025 - 2026, University Grant
    (De)legitimation of feminine masculinity in mainstream English newspapers in China ( Principal Investigator(PI))

ACADEMIC/ PROF. SERVICES

Media appearance
  1. (2024) (youtube) Hate Speech: a Growing Problem, University, (Interview)

TEACHING

Doctor Of Philosophy
  1. (2024) TVX8001 - Research Methodology
  2. (2023) TVX8001 - Research Methodology
Master
  1. (2024) TOX7019 - Pragmatics
  2. (2024) TQA7018 - Understanding Language Development
  3. (2023) TOX7019 - Pragmatics
Bachelor
  1. (2024) TIX3003 - Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics
  2. (2023) TIX3003 - Introduction to Semantics and Pragmatics
  3. (2023) TIX2022 - Language in Technology and New Media