Survey Suggests Cambodian English Variation Emerging Among University Students

Abstract

Little research has been done on the topic of Cambodian English, despite the rapid advancements in language learning and acquisition. The results of a linguistic diversity survey conducted among Cambodian university students enrolled at one of the country’s leading academic institutions suggest advancements in the population’s English language abilities and hints at the emergence of what could be called “Transitional Cambodian English.”

Full text

Survey Suggests Cambodian English Variation Emerging Among University Students
By Joshua Wilwohl
Murray State University
Abstract
Little research has been done on the topic of Cambodian English, despite the rapid advancements
in language learning and acquisition. The results of a linguistic diversity survey conducted
among Cambodian university students enrolled at one of the country’s leading academic
institutions suggest advancements in the population’s English language abilities and hints at the
emergence of what could be called “Transitional Cambodian English.” This variation, a
combination of American and British Englishes—with limited local-language borrowing—is one
step closer to a standard. While a lot more research must be done to understand and to solidify
the variation within—and beyond—the domain of education, this report makes the case that
Cambodian English is evolving into specific variations.
Report
The British linguist David Crystal said, “A country adopts English and then adapts it to suit its
circumstances. … [Y]ou want an English that reflects your local English and the things you do
all around you. Shape it and push it in a direction it’s never been before” (Crystal, “World
Englishes”). For university students in Cambodia, it appears localizing English is exactly what
they are doing. Cambodia was not colonized by a native English-speaking country, but the
language has rapidly grown since it took root in the early 1990s. During that time, thousands of
English- and French-speaking foreign workers entered the country as part of the United Nations
1

Transitional Authority in Cambodia (Narith 23). After solidifying itself as the leading foreign
language, English entered school curriculums and eventually the government, when Cambodia
joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 1999 (Moore and Bounchan 654). Since
then, English usage has increased each decade, and its elite status among Cambodians grows
every year (Moore and Bounchan 654). This growth is fueled not only by what appears to be an
obsession with Western culture and that, in order to succeed, one must know English, but also by
advancements in technology, such as mobile phones, where Khmer—the country’s native
language—script may not yet exist (Moore and Bounchan 655). In contemporary Cambodia,
English is used often. For example, most university instruction is in English—even in classes
taught by Cambodian professors.
The term “Cambodian English” was refined by scholars in the mid-2000s, and it is
considered to be influenced by “Standard English” and Khmer (Narith 23). At the time,
researchers found this variety of English was “unintelligible” to foreigners because of
pronunciation and grammar (Moore and Bounchan 657). Little research has since been done on
the topic, even as the language learning and acquisition process has improved with international
schools and Internet-connected devices (Moore and Bounchan 657). A report released in March
2024 by Cambodian scholars Chan Hum and Kimkong Heng acknowledges the explosion of
local parents sending their children to international schools “to receive high-quality education in
English,” but they also argue that social media’s informal communication may be causing a
disconnect with the language: “[T]hey will overtime find it hard to use English effectively in
other settings that require formal use of English” (197). The duo agree, however, that “more
Cambodian people, especially younger ones, will achieve good English proficiency, as they have
more chances to use English and be exposed to an English environment both inside and outside
2

the classroom” (Hum and Heng 198). Referencing Braj Kachru’s circles model on the diffusion
of world Englishes, the authors state Cambodian English falls into the Expanding Circle, where
the language has no official status, but researchers suggest it could be moving into the Outer
Circle, where English is common (Hum and Heng 198; Al-Mutairi 86). Along these lines,
Cambodian English could be labeled a “developing variety,” as was seen in China, showing both
exonormative and endonormative features by adhering to certain Englishes’ forms, but also by
finding uniqueness with its Khmer influence (Imelwaty et al. 26; Yun 117).
A survey conducted by this report’s author in March 2024, investigated the use of English
among university students, aged 18 to 25, enrolled at one of Cambodia’s leading academic
institutions, based on their language learning and acquisition process. The survey was split into
five main parts: (1) pronunciation, (2) grammar, (3) lexicon, (4) pragmatics, and (5) language
learning and acquisition. Two other sections gathered background information and opinions. The
primary parts were selected based on previous research that defined Cambodian English “in
terms of differences from Standardized British or American English usage across
pronunciation…, grammar, and some vocabulary items” (Moore and Bounchan 656). Each
section contained between 10 and 14 questions, with some based on first-hand research and
experience by this report’s author working in Cambodia for more than seven years—almost two
years as a professor—and others based on a teacher’s guide for native Khmer speakers learning
English. The pronunciation section was developed from a list of common “mispronounced”
English words among Cambodian students, compiled by Lukru Adam, an English teacher (Adam
“Commonly Mispronounced English Words in Cambodia Part 1”; Adam “Commonly
Mispronounced English Words in Cambodia Part 2”).1The pronunciations were compiled from
1It is important to note that mispronounced words can still be understood within certain contexts and that the
mispronunciations discussed in Adam’s videos are from his perspective.
3

Google’s pronunciation guide and common pronunciations heard among Cambodians, based on
their interaction with this report’s author, Adam’s lessons, and the aforementioned teacher’s
guide. The pragmatics and language learning and acquisition sections were compiled from the
research and experience of this report’s author, material from the U.S. State Department’s
English Teaching Forum, and a pragmatics study about Asian English learners. With more than
130 responses, the survey not only builds a mini-profile of the English language usage among the
university’s students, but it also provides a starting point that suggests a variation of Cambodian
English is emerging: Transitional Cambodian English (TCE).2This could be viewed as one step
closer to Standard Cambodian English (SCE), which is not yet developed. TCE differentiates
from what one might call Everyday Cambodian English (ECE), or the Cambodian English
outlined more than a decade ago and the data of which is the baseline for the language discussed
in this report. ECE could be considered “KhmEnglish,” a colloquial form mixing Khmer and
general English words heard among the population, including students.3Based on the survey
results, TCE could be considered a combination of American and British Englishes,
accompanied with limited borrowing of Khmer words into English, and it could be heard mostly
among educated Cambodians. At some point, TCE may transition into SCE, shaped by (most
likely) Standard American English through education, and leaving two variations: ECE and
SCE—similar to what is seen in postcolonial varieties of English (Gupta 33).
It is first important to take into account the respondents’ backgrounds and communities
of practice, particularly with language learning and acquisition. The majority of students (92%)
3See Appendix A. The use of the word “slang” in the book title does not accurately reflect KhmEnglish. No
scholarly material was found defining KhmEnglish, but blogs and articles discussed the concept, based on
experiences and/or observations. The term is used among expatriates.
2“Transitional” seemed an appropriate word because the language is transitioning to a standard. “Sophisticated” was
an alternate label that came about during an interview with Ashley Irving, principal at the Australian Centre for
Education, a Cambodia-based school that has more than 26,000 students learning English. “Sophisticated” was
dropped, as the term could assign class distinction.
4

are solely Cambodian citizens from Phnom Penh (70.1%), the country’s capital, who learned
English by attending an international school (74.5%), watching YouTube (69.4%), browsing
Facebook (34.3%), and reading offline materials, such as books (34.3%). All are bilingual, with
the majority in Khmer and English. While identifying first as Cambodian, two also identified as
American and French, while seven also identified as Chinese. The students tend to have one item
in common: access. They hail from middle- and upper-class families, with the ability to have the
Internet, a smartphone, and a computer. Cambodia’s internet penetration rate hovers around
60%—46% more than a decade ago (World Bank, “Individuals Using the Internet (% of
Population) - Cambodia”). International schools in Cambodia can be expensive, ranging in price
from $4,000 to $24,000 per year (Goldberg, “Phnom Penh International Schools”). While some
of the students come from wealthier backgrounds, schools do provide scholarships.
One question thought to provide insight into communities of practice asked students if
they had been enrolled in a pre-university class to improve their English skills. Twenty-eight
respondents selected, “Yes.” The survey answers among those students varied little—mostly with
pronunciations—compared to those who answered, “No.” The overall results paint a picture of
the average student: A 19-year-old male from Phnom Penh, enrolled full time in his first or
second year, majoring in a business-related field, and who was not part of an English
improvement program. Khmer is his first language, but he knows English well by attending an
international school with an American English curriculum and by watching movies on YouTube.
He understands the grammatical differences seen in ECE, and he code-switches, depending on
with whom he converses.
5

Starting with pronunciations, the majority of students appear to say words in line with
either an American or British accent.4Some words are clearly defined as one over the other, such
as “bravery:” 65.7% with a British accent (bray·vuh·ree) and 29.2% with an American accent
(bray·vr·ee). While others are almost evenly split, such as “February:” 48.2% with an American
accent (feh·byoo·eh·re) and 44.5% with a British accent (feh·byoo·uh·ree). The other
pronunciation options trailed behind by at least 20 percent, except for three words: province,
language, and daughter. With the word “language,” the pronunciation (lang·gwig) was second at
21.9% to the American pronunciation (lang·gwihj) at 52.6%. With daughter, the pronunciation
(dawg·tuh) was second at 20.4% to the British pronunciation (daw·tuh) at 48.2%. In both
instances, it appears Cambodians struggle with /g/, pronouncing it as a hard [g] when it is either
supposed to be silent or change phonologically to /ŋ/ or /dʒ/. With “province,” the pronunciation
(pro·win) was third at 21.2%, after the American pronunciation (praa·vns) at 31.4% and the
British pronunciation (pro·vns) at 35.8%.
A common occurrence among Cambodians speaking English is the dropping of the [s]
sound and the phonological change of the voiced labiodental fricative /v/ to the voiced bilabial
glide /w/ (Moore and Bounchan 657; Wilcox). The pronunciation of “province” in the survey,
however, shows a majority of students (67.2%) seem to keep the [v] and [s] sounds. Similarly,
previous studies of Cambodian English have shown most drop final consonants, such as the [f]
sound (Moore and Bounchan 657). Stephen Moore and Suksiri Bounchan point to the word
“wife” [waɪf], stating most Cambodians would say [wai] (657). The survey shows this may not
be the case among students. When asked how they pronounce “wife,” 84.7% of respondents
chose the (wi·f) option, while 13.9% chose the voicing assimilation (wi·v) option, and only 1.5%
4Students selected the pronunciations based on how they thought they pronounced the words. This methodology
was used to avoid giving an established pronunciation by the author of this report saying the words.
6

chose the (wi) option. The students varied on their overall pronunciation responses, and there
was no individual consistency in answers. For example, a 24-year-old female enrolled full time
in her second year and who did not attend an English improvement program, pronounced three
words in British and six words in American.5An 18-year-old non-gender identifier enrolled full
time in their first year and who did not attend an English improvement program, pronounced four
words in American and five words in British.6A 19-year-old male enrolled full time in his first
year and who did not attend an English improvement program, pronounced three words in
British and six words in American.7In all instances, the respondents selected (wi·f) for the
pronunciation of “wife.”
The students’ lexicon varies at an almost even split between American and British
Englishes. For example, when asked, “What do you call a Hollywood production that includes
lights, cameras, and celebrities,” 54.7% selected movie, while 43.1% selected film. What is
unique is that while they continue to use the borrowing of Khmer words in English, it was done
less than expected. Six of the 10 lexicon questions included borrowed Khmer words as
responses, and the students chose the English word over the borrowed Khmer word in all but two
questions. The six questions and answers were:
Question
English
Khmer
Did you eat ________ yet?
Lunch (65.7%)
Rice (19%)
What do you call someone
who is white from another
country?
Westerner (37.2%)
Barang (44.5%)
7Student is identified in the survey responses with Favorite Number 7.
6Student is identified in the survey responses with Favorite Number 327.
5Student is identified in the survey responses with Favorite Number 16.
7

What do you call a fizzy soft
drink?
Soda (67.9%)
Coca (24.8%)
What do you call the small,
green citrus fruit?
Lime (38%)
Cro-atch ma (46%)
What do you call a type of
transport with two wheels and
an engine?
Motorbike (40.1%)
Moto (30.7%)
Hey, ________.
Bro/sis (40.9%)
Bong/Oun (39.4%)
In the second question, it is worth noting that another 8% of responses selected “Other” and
wrote-in “Foreigner.” The combination of “Westerner” and “Foreigner” places the English mark
at 45.2%, just above “Barang.”
When it comes to pragmatics, a 2005 report about problems for Khmer speakers when
learning English states, “[W]e sometimes have more problems related to how we speak or write
to each other rather than what we speak or write about” (Sophal 14). The survey’s responses
show students seem to make a clear differentiation between how they respond to friends versus
how they respond to family or someone they do not interact with often. For example, 68.6% of
students would respond only in English to their friends with either “yeah” (36.5%), “yes”
(18.2%), or “yep” (13.9%) if asked, “Do you want a coffee?” Meanwhile, if their mom or dad
asked if they had eaten dinner, they would respond, “baat” (38.7%), “ja” (29.2%), or “yes”
(14.6%). Note both the Khmer language (masculine and feminine forms) and the formal “yes” in
response to family members or people of authority. Similarly, the students would say either
“hello” (60.6%) or the Khmer equivalent “suostei” (46%) when greeting people they do not
interact with often, such as a dentist, nurse, or police officer. Of note are the responses to “thank
8

you” when speaking to a friend or an unknown elderly woman. In both instances, the majority of
responses were in English:
Question
Majority Response 1
Majority Response 2
An unknown elderly woman
says, “Thank you.” How would
you respond?
You’re welcome (38.7%)
My pleasure (32.1%)
Your friend says, “Thank you.”
How would you respond?
No worries (32.2%)
(British)8
No problem (27%)
(American)
The pragmatic variations and use of Khmer may seem expected with family, but what is
interesting is the preferred use of English when speaking with friends and people they do not
interact with often, even if those people are Cambodian. This potentially raises questions around
identity, a topic reserved for later research, as the younger generations “tend to associate
themselves more with English-ness…as reflected in their choice of language for communication”
(Hum and Heng 197).
The survey also provides insight into the students’ English grammar knowledge. A study
from 2020 states, “Khmer grammar transference is…likely to play a disruptive role in
communication with non‐Khmer speakers” (Moore and Bounchan 657-658). In their teacher’s
guide, Bounchan and Moore point out that Cambodians tend to have issues around (1) plural
nouns, such as forgetting to add -s and -es, (2) possessive pronouns, such as not adding the -’s,
(3) verb forms and tenses, such as not changing agreements, and (4) repetition of words because
of reduplication in Khmer (119). “[T]here are many more ways in which Khmer grammar is
dissimilar to English grammar,” the duo write, suggesting that, at times, Cambodians “transfer”
8Some may also associate this phrase with Australian English.
9

grammatical knowledge (Bounchan and Moore 116). “Sometimes the adjective is repeated to
similarly emphasize the adverb use… [Such as] ‘I speak slow slow, but she still can’t understand
me,’” state Bounchan and Moore (119). The survey provided two questions around reduplication,
and for both, more than 80% of respondents chose the single word:
Question
Answer 1
Answer 2
I have ________ money.
small (82.5%)
small-small (17.5%)
They are the ________.
same (95.6%)
same-same (4.4%)
In the instances of plural nouns and possessive pronouns, more than 90% of respondents added -s
or -’s. For example, when presented with the sentence, “The ________ are playing,” 91.2%
selected “girls,” while 8.8% answered “girl.” In another scenario, “Look! ________ coming,”
100% answered, “He’s.” Questions around verb forms and tenses also showed the students were
aware of their grammar. For example, when faced with past tense, most Cambodians continue to
use the present if the verb goes through the morphological process of alternation or suppletion,
instead of affixation (Bounchan and Moore 118). But even with affixation, Cambodians, at times,
tend to drop the -ed and use the present. In the two questions around this topic, the students
answered as follows:
Question
Answer 1
Answer 2
I went to the store, and I
________ coffee.
bought (94.2%)
buy (5.8%)
She ________ a tire
yesterday.
changed (97.1%)
change (2.9%)
10

While the survey looks at a small sample from a specific domain, it provides the first step
for further investigation into an emerging variation, as the country moves toward a standard.
More research, including recording and analyzing speech, needs to be done around (1) the
suggested ECE and TCE variations (and their components), including items not discussed in this
report, such as structure and intonation, (2) the learning and acquisition level(s) of other local
university students, and (3) the students’ corresponding communities of practice. Another item to
take into account is social media, as mentioned by Hum and Heng, who suggest the language
used by Cambodians online is a cause for concern. “This version of English will affect the future
of the English variety used in Cambodia, particularly in terms of the acceptable standard of
Cambodian English,” they state, emphasizing the need for “proper language planning and policy
mechanisms” as Cambodian English “will represent the identity of the Cambodian people” (Hum
and Heng 198). Discussion around English and Khmer in Cambodia is already an ongoing topic
among the public and the government, and it could be why the students appeared engaged and
reciprocal to the survey—with 87.2% finding it “interesting” (Neang, “Hun Manet Calls for
Khmer Language Class at Int’l Schools”). As the respondents of this survey graduate, enter the
workforce, and start their own families, TCE will continue to evolve—and other variations of
Cambodian English may take root—as the country progresses toward a standard. After all, “[It]
only takes weeks for a new variety of English to start to grow” (Crystal, “World Englishes”).
11

Appendix A
12

Bibliography
Adam, Lukru. “Commonly Mispronounced English Words in Cambodia Part 1.” YouTube.
June 15, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O1gnI4rbj8.
Adam, Lukru. “Commonly Mispronounced English Words in Cambodia Part 2.” YouTube.
June 19, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQlu_QyyCh0.
Al-Mutairi, Mohammad. “Kachru’s Three Concentric Circles Model of English Language: An
Overview of Criticism & the Place of Kuwait in it.” English Language Teaching. 2020.
Vol. 13, No. 1. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1239144.pdf.
Bounchan, Suksiri and Stephen Moore. “Khmer Learner English: A Teacher’s Guide to Khmer
L1 Interference.” Teaching Practice. Date unknown. https://docplayer.net/
20737628-Khmer-learner-english-a-teacher-s-guide-to-khmer-l1-interference1.html.
Crystal, David. “World Englishes.” British Council Serbia. Nov. 9, 2013.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_q9b9YqGRY.
Goldberg, Lina. “Phnom Penh International Schools.” Move to Cambodia. 2024.
https://movetocambodia.com/city-guides/phnom-penh/expat-essentials/
international-schools.
Grimstad, Maren Berg. “The Codeswitching/Borrowing Debate: Evidence From English-Origin
Verbs In American Norwegian.” Norwegian University of Science and Technology. 2017.
https://ntnuopen.ntnu.no/ntnu-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2465427/
Grimstad+-+CS-Bor.+debate+Ms+-+Final+version+9.6.2017.pdf?
sequence=1#:~:text=A.,items%20originate%20as%20code%2Dswitches.
Accessed March 28, 2024.
13

Gupta, Ailthea Fraser. “Singapore Colloquial English and Standard English.” Singapore Journal
of Education. 1989. Vol. 10, No. 2. Page 33. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?
repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=b797c335e0850c6636d435ce192060ead98e6a0e#page=36.
Hanna, Amy. Luck of the Draw (Pragmatics). U.S. State Department's English Teaching Forum.
2016. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1094906.pdf.
Hum, Chan and Kimkong Heng. “English in Cambodia.” The Oxford Handbook of Southeast
Asian Englishes. March 21, 2024. Chapter 10. Pages 186-201.
https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/56213/chapter-abstract/443870008.
Imelwaty, Sri, Trisna Helda, Edwar Kemal, and Hervina Asti. “Juggling between the
Exonormative and Endonormative Models of English: Developing a Model of
Proficiency in English for the Indonesian Local Context.” International Multidisciplinary
Research Journal. July 2019. Vo. 2, No. 1. Page 26. https://imrjournal.info/wp-content/
uploads/2020/04/Sri-Imelwaty.pdf.
Irving, Ashley. Interview. Australian Centre for Education. March 26, 2024.
Kao, Sophal. “Some Problems and Difficulties for Khmer Speakers When Learning or Using
the English Language.” Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia. 2005.
Kecskes, Istvan and Monika Kirner-Ludwig. “‘It Would Never Happen in My Country I Must
Say’: A Corpus-Pragmatic Study on Asian English Learners’ Preferred Uses of Must and
Should.” Springer International Publishing. June 2017. https://www.researchgate.net/
publication/315633858_It_Would_Never_Happen_in_My_Country_
I_Must_Say_A_Corpus-Pragmatic_Study_on_Asian_English_Learners%27_
Preferred_Uses_of_Must_and_Should.
14

Moore, Stephen and Suksiri Bounchan. “English in Cambodia.” The Handbook of Asian
Englishes. Wiley Blackwell. 2020. https://library.aupp.edu.kh/cgi-bin/
koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=10114.
Narith, Keuk Chan. “How Intelligible is Cambodian English Variety? A Look from Foreigners’
Perspectives.” CamTESOL Conference on English Language Teaching: Selected
Papers, Volume 5, 2009. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Steven-Graham-6/
publication/283122629_English_for_future_careers_Globalization
_for_mechanical_technology_students/links/562bc3d608aef25a2441cbac/
English-for-future-careers-Globalization-for-mechanical-technology-students.pdf.
Neang, Sokunthea. “Hun Manet Calls for Khmer Language Class at Int’l Schools.” Phnom Penh
Post. Feb. 13, 2023. https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/
hun-manet-calls-khmer-language-class-intl-schools.
Wilcox, Gin. Interview. American University of Phnom Penh. March 12, 2024.
World Bank, The. “Individuals Using the Internet (% of Population) - Cambodia.”
Date unknown. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS?locations=KH.
Yun, Hui. “China English, a Developing Variety of English.” English Language and
Literature Studies. Feb. 22, 2013. Vol. 3, No. 1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
315445177_China_English_a_Developing_Variety_of_English.
15