Three Factors Explaining Why Some Cambodian Learners of English Are Successful While Other Are Not

           If asked if I think it is easy or difficult to study English, I will say that it is dependent upon many different factors. There is no single clear-cut line that tears the definition of difficulty and easiness of learning a second language, English, apart. In the other words, to be successful in learning English depends on both internal and external factors. In my viewpoint, there are three major factors I believe are the most significant ones which explain why some Cambodian learners are successful, while others are not, in learning English.

One of the most notable factors of English learning is motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Intrinsic motivation, which is broadly defined as a desire of the learners to acquire a second language, plays a vital role in enabling a successful learning. In this sense, to what extent the learners are successful corresponds with to what degree the learners desire to learn it. On account of intrinsic motivation, students are highly likely to be successful in a language learning. However, even they are enthusiastic in learning English, their level of zeal will dwindle if the tasks are tedious and beyond their level of capacity. Therefore, as educators, we need to respond to the students’ needs and beware of the students’ current abilities. John Dewey once said “We begin where our students are, not where we want them to be.” We cannot just force students to learn what they do not want to learn; we need to tailor the tasks to suit them. Hence, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are like flesh and bond. Without them a journey to success in English learning is impossible.

Another factor that injects an influence on the success on English learning is individual learning strategy. Different individuals are in favored of different strategic learning styles. As I have learned in Applied Linguistic course, there are three types of learning strategies, all of which are metacognitive, cognitive, and social/affective strategies. To be successful in learning English, students need to know which learning strategy works well for them and which ones do not. Sometimes one learning strategy works for a specific person but not others, so it is better for them to think critically before choosing a learning strategy. Moreover, it is notorious that most Cambodian students, if not all, are dependent. They just follow one learning pattern, which is to follow what the teacher tell them to do and/or the outstanding students’ learning style. However, it does not work for each and every of them. Therefore, to overcome this great challenge, they should be aware of their own preferred learning strategy that suits their learning pattern. 

Though motivation and learning strategy have a big impact on Cambodian learners of English, perhaps the most powerful factor that generates the biggest influence on the success of English learning as a second language is resource. This includes financial resource, human resource, and availability of learning resource. The correlation between degree of success of English learning and unevenly distributed resources is quite noticeable. For those who are more accessible to the aforementioned resources tend to have a greater chance in becoming English successful learners than those who are not. To deal with this challenge is utterly difficult owing to the fact that there is a great variation between the rich and the poor, and between people who live in rural or remote rural areas and those who live in towns and cities. 

To sum up, motivation, learning strategy, and resource are the three indicators of Cambodian learners’ success in English learning. Lacking any one of them will be a hindrance hampering them from getting successful in learning English. Therefore, what the learners need to do to overcome these challenging factors is to define a clear goal and have a sense of direction in learning English, beware of their own preferred learning strategy, and be accessible to necessary learning resource. Fail to plan does mean plan to fail.