Challenges of Teaching English as an Additional Language in High Schools in Cambodia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges of teaching English as an additional language in high schools in Cambodia. Semi-structured interviews, surveys, and classroom observations were the methods chosen for data collection. A mixed method design was used in which the semi-structured interviews were employed to elicit qualitative data, alongside some quantification from the survey responses and observation checklists. Eleven teachers from four high schools in three districts of a province in Cambodia participated in this study, aimed at exploring the challenges of teaching English they face and how these challenges might be solved. The eleven teachers were interviewed, responded to surveys, and were observed in one of their teaching classes for 45 to 50 minutes. The instruments were developed and adapted from Richards’ (2001) framework of best practice in English language teaching (ELT). A thematic analysis approach was used to analyse data collected from the interviews. The data from surveys were reproduced in tables with numbers and percentages. The data from observation checklists were also reproduced as means. These data provided a comparison with the qualitative interview data. The findings showed that poor school facilities, staff issues, programme management issues, curriculum and resources were not conducive to ELT in Cambodian high schools. An examination scoring policy and the marginalisation of English as a subject, mixed-ability classes, and students’ attitudes and motivations also attributed to challenges for ELT in schools. Moreover, the teachers’ qualities and competencies in ELT were also limited to some extent, including the persistent use of L1 and a lack of varying activities for students to practise the language in class in accordance with a modern Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach. This small-scale study provides some useful information for Cambodia’s Ministry of Education, universities, teacher training centres, school leaders, and teachers. These relevant stakeholders should help to resolve the challenges of teaching English in schools through planning and policies so that ELT in schools in Cambodia can be improved. The findings of this study also provide valuable knowledge for other countries within the region, particularly the Southeast Asian nations, who may share a similar ELT context.