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THE PROSPECTUS

Chanchoronay Thim

Department of College of Education, California State University, San Bernardino

EESL 6700: Principles & Practice in TESOL

Dr. Golge Seferoglu

November 21, 2021

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THE ROLE OF ENGLISH IN CAMBODIA

The native language in Cambodia is Khmer. English is a foreign language, and it

has been used by many people as a part of communication, mainly in Phnom Penh, the

capital city of Cambodia. English is a mandatory subject that has been put in the school

curriculum for students to learn from middle school up to high school. Private schools

provide many English courses from beginner to advanced levels.

English is by far the most popular language in Cambodia. There are many ways people

can receive an English education. English courses are provided at public school at no

cost, and it is run by instructors who have credentials and degrees from college.

However, students in public school can only learn English a few hours a week because

English course is very limited. Besides taking a course in public school as a part of their

learning, most of the students enroll in a private school where the course lasts for three to

five hours a day. Many instructors from private schools are foreigners who some have a

teaching credential, and some do not.

SOCIAL CONTEXT OF E NGLISH USE IN CAMBODIA

Groups of people who use English are from k-12 and adults. Nowadays,

kindergarten students up to elementary school students use English in their

communication a lot more than other groups. The reason is that some parents put their

kindergarten with foreign teachers, and they are in an environment where English is

spoken every day. When they arrive home, their parents also use English, so some kids
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can't speak Cambodia properly even though it is their first language. On the other hand,

adults from 20 to 40 years old use English in their workplace and school. They also text

each other in English when using social media platforms.

People are interested in learning English because it is in high demand in the job

market. Many investors from the United States run their business in Cambodia and would

like to hire people who can speak English. The majority of the company in Cambodia

requires people to have English knowledge to communicate and write in English.

There is different equality access to quality English instruction across social contexts.

The degree of acquiring L1 and L2 are separated. First language or Khmer has been included

to study more than English. English is an additional language for people to learn. The

factors that influence English learning are feedback, aptitude, motivation, and instruction.

Feedback refers to the comment or words that instructors make to correct L2 learners'

errors. Some choose to give feedback orally, while others prefer to do it in writing. Aptitude is

the natural ability to comprehend a task, including memory capacity and analytic capacity.

Motivation focuses on the inspiration and decision to learn the language for specific

purposes. Moreover, instruction refers to the lesson's learners get through formal

education in a school setting. 

I have experienced most of the factors throughout my language learning because they are

very beneficial for language development. I always started with an instruction. I am

the type of person who doesn't enjoy doing self-study because mostly, I don't know when

and where to start. So, I need instruction first before I begin the journey by myself. I like

to pay full attention to teachers' explanations because it helps me collect linguistic

information. After I get some knowledge, I want to practice it. For example, I have never
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felt ashamed or scared to speak a new language because that's when my teachers know

whether I make mistakes or not. I like to ask for feedback because it makes me keep

growing and improving myself. I also motivate myself along the way because when I

make so many mistakes, it somehow makes me lose hope and discourages me from continuing

my language learning. I usually motivate myself by getting good food after getting a

good grade or hanging out with friends on the weekend. Acquiring a second language isn't

easy. I've spent more than ten years learning English, and I am still making grammatical

mistakes. Again, learning isn't easy but doing easy things is boring.

ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGIES IN CAMBODIA

In the college that I plan to teach in Cambodia, English has traditionally been

taught by college lecturers who have a GPA of 3.0 or more. They usually use the

grammar-translation method, Direct method, Total Physical Response, and

Communicative Language Teaching. The Grammar-translation method is the way to

teach grammar by having students translate the grammar structure and sentences in

students' native language. When students get to translate it in their first language, they

have a clue or idea of what they are doing, and it can connect them with the topic of the

lesson quickly. However, the direct method requires students to use the target language

directly. Students are asked to repeat words and sentence structure a few times because it

is believed that the more they are repeating, the more they memorize the form and

meaning. Total Physical Response is an approach that students have to perform as a part

of learning. Communicative language teaching refers to an approach that aims to help

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students improve their communicating skills by providing students with many speaking

activities such as conversation in pairs, group discussion, and project presentation.

TARGET TEACHING LEVEL

I want to teach College-level English majors. I plan to work for a four-year course

in English language and English for Work skills conducted by a foreign language

institution in Cambodia. English is used as the medium of instruction for the program.

In the first year of the bachelor's program, students are prepared to study general

knowledge and English language subjects such as Introduction to Environment,

Introduction to Sociology, Khmer Grammar, Khmer and Regional History, Core English,

and English Writing Skills.

In the second years and third years, students are required to study Core English, Global

Studies, Literature Studies, Critical Thinking, Writing Skills, and Research Methodology.

It intends to provide students with sufficient English knowledge and skill to keep them

aware of their culture and what is happening around the world.

In the fourth year, students have to complete eight subjects: Teaching Methodology,

Theories of Language and Language Teaching, Approaches and Methods in Language

Teaching, Foundations of Education, Assessment in Language Teaching, Second

Language Acquisition, Education Psychology, and School and Society. As a part of the

program requirement, students have to conduct a teaching practicum for six weeks.

If I get a chance, I would also like to teach English as a Second Language in an adult

school and community college in the United States for some reasons. As an immigrant,

adult school is my first school in the United States, and I got a good education without
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paying any money. So, I want to contribute back to adult school. I want to be a part of the

team to help immigrants learn English as much as possible because English is the most

fundamental part of communication. It is hard for an adult to find a job without having

English knowledge. 

The second reason is that I enjoy teaching adults more than other age groups. I had taught

teenagers for three years, and they were pretty hard to deal with. They did things base on

their behavior; they threw attitude and didn't communicate enough. Some of them didn't

have any motivation to study and even did not cooperate. Adults are capable of

controlling their emotions. I love to promote independent learning, but this technique is

not effective for a young age group. For example, adults can do research or presentation

as a part of their learning activities while kids or teenagers mostly need guidance.  

Last but not least, I want to inspire adults and let them know that even though they study

language at a later age, it is still not too late to learn it. I want to motivate them to keep

learning and give them good techniques to learn quicker. 

Enrolling in the four-year program, students encounter a few things. The first

thing that challenges students is the tuition fee. In Cambodia, there is not much financial

aid from the government or scholarships from any private sector. If you want to go to

college, you must have money to pay for it. To cope with this problem, most students do

college in the daytime and work nighttime. They must earn money to pay for college, or

they won't be allowed to enroll. Doing full-time school and working isn't helpful at all.

There are many homework assignments and projects that students have to spend time on.

Some students fall behind because they can't manage their time well, and some decide to

drop the classes.

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Moreover, students lose motivation to learn when they can make some money while

doing college, and they start to prioritize their works more than school. Another

challenge that college students face is the ability to catch up with the lesson. English at

the college level is not as easy as that at the high school level. Students who have less

foundation in English would find it hard to continue the program due to a lack of

grammar structure, lexicon, morphology, phonology, and syntax. It is also a challenge

when they fail to manage their time correctly to avoid procrastination.

CURRENT MATERIALS USED AT TARGET LEVEL

The materials that I would use to teach college-level students are posterboard,

highlighter, markers, pen, pencils, computer devices, textbooks, and handouts. The

school president is the one who designs the curriculum and picks the textbooks. Teachers

are responsible for organizing the lesson plan and making sure the lesson is delivered to

standards. Teachers may download resources and materials online or access library code

to download many kinds of textbooks.

PREVIOUS CAREER EXPERIENCE AND CAREER GOALS

I choose this career path because I am passionate about teaching and sharing

knowledge. I have a strong desire for learning and exploring. I believe that education is a

fundamental part of a human being. By working as a teacher, I am a part of the

professionalism which I can make a positive difference to people life and future.

On top of that, I always put students' education at the heart of everything I do.
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I am also interested in this job because I can grow, improve and develop myself. Working

in the education field is the best place for me.