The difficulties of khmer students in learning english at can tho university

CAN THO UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

THE DIFFICULTIES OF KHMER
STUDENTS IN LEARNING ENGLISH
AT CAN THO UNIVERSITY (CTU)

B.A thesis
Supervisor: Le Thi Huyen, M.A

Researcher: Kim Phi Rum
Student‟s code: 7062920
Class: NN0652A1
Course: 32

Can Tho – April , 2010
Kim Phi Rum
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To finish this research, I have got support from many people. Firstly, I would like
to thank to my supervisor, Le Thi Huyen, M.A, who has advised and showed me the
procedure for the research step by step. During the time working with her, I have realized
errors that should be corrected to be a good person. I have got more experience on
working style, as well as know how to make thesis more effectively which is very useful
for my higher education.
Secondly, I want to send my gratitude to my friends – Vu Thi Hong and Nguyen

Thi Nhuyen, who have helped me so much during my process. Especially, when I have
difficulties, two of them are always willing to help me.
Thirdly, I am also grateful to Mr Moore Stephen (Department of Linguistics
Macquaire University) and Ms Suksiri Bounchan (Department of English Institute of
Foreign Languages, Royal University of Phnom Penh) who have presented a good topic
“Khmer learner English: A teachers’ guide to Khmer interference”, supplied me the
necessary materials for my thesis when I was in Cambodia.
Thanks also to my advisor, Bui Minh Chau, M.A, who has given me special help
during my difficult process. Thank my parents who have encouraged me to finish the
research well. Last but not least, thank 74 participants who are willing to take part in my
research so that I can have the data to finish my thesis.

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CONTENTS
CONTENTS .......................................................................................................... Page
List of tables ........................................................................................................... v
Abstract .................................................................................................................. vi
1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1
1. General statement of the problem .......................................................... 1
2. Statement of hypotheses, objectives and questions ............................... 2
3. General organization of the study .......................................................... 3
2. Literature review............................................................................................. 4
1. The difficulties caused by the mother tongue in
second language learning .......................................................................... 4
1.1 Overview of Khmer language .................................................... 4

1.2 The difficulties of Khmer Cambodia learners in learning English 4
a. In phonology ........................................................................ 4
b. In grammar ........................................................................... 9
1.3 The influence of L1 transfer .................................................... 12
2. The difficulties caused by attitudes and motivation factors
in learning English .................................................................................. 14
3. Research method ...............................................................................................
1. Research design.................................................................................... 17
2. Description of participants and instruments ........................................ 17
2.1 Participants ................................................................................ 17
2.2 Research instruments ................................................................ 17
3. Research procedures ............................................................................ 18
4. Results ............................................................................................................ 19
1. The level of difficulties in learning English of Khmer CTU students .. 19
1.1 The level of difficulties in learning English caused by the mother
tongue ......................................................................................... 19
1.2 The level of difficulties in learning English
caused by factor of attitude ........................................................... 19
1.3 The difficulties in learning English can be caused by motivation 20
2. Khmer CTU students‟ awareness of the differences
between Khmer and English .................................................................... 22
5. Discussions ..................................................................................................... 25
1. Discussions............................................................................................ 25
2. Pedagogical implications ...................................................................... 26
3. Limitation and recommendations ......................................................... 27
4. Conclusions ........................................................................................... 27
References ........................................................................................................... 28
Appendices .......................................................................................................... 30
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LIST OF TABLES
Tables: ............................................................................................................ Page
2.1 Original consonant in Khmer .................................................................. 5
2.2 Distinctive phonemes in Khmer............................................................... 5
2.3 Distinctive phonemes of invented consonant sounds in Khmer ............... 6
2.4 Dependent and independent Khmer vowels ............................................. 8
3.1 Clusters of questionnaire ......................................................................... 18
4.1.1.a The mean score of level of difficulties in learning English
caused by the mother tongue ....................................................................... 19
4.1.1.b Descriptive statistic of difficulties in learning English caused by
factor of attitude ............................................................................................ 20
4.1.1.b.1 Descriptive statistic of specific item of attitude factor .................. 20
4.1.2 The overall mean score of Khmer students‟ self-study frequency
in learning English ....................................................................................... 21
4.1.1.c The level of difficulties in learning English caused
by the motivation factor ............................................................................... 23
4.1.1.c.1 Descriptive statistic of specific items of
English speaking environment difficulties.................................................... 23
4.2 The overall mean score of Khmer students‟ awareness of
the difficulties between Khmer and English ................................................. 24

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ABSTRACT
Nowadays, English is one of the most important languages of the world. However,
learning English seems to be difficult to all learners as well as to Khmer CTU students. The
study the difficulties of Khmer students in learning English at Can Tho university aimed to find
out the difficulties that Khmer CTU students face in learning English which caused by the
mother tongue as well as attitude and motivation factors. With a descriptive research, 16 items –
questionnaires were delivered to 74 Khmer CTU students who were following non-major
English program to get data. The data was analyzed by the Statistic Package for the Social
Science (SPSS) program. The result shows that Khmer CTU students sometimes have difficulties
in pronouncing English sounds that do not exist in Khmer language system. Besides, lack of
motivation from teachers; difficult English learning material; as well as lack of English speaking
environment are other difficulties that Khmer students are suffering when learning English at
CTU. However, they still have positive attitude to English learning. From the results, the
researcher proposes some implications for both teachers and students that students should not
only have good attitudes to their English learning but also know the differences between their
mother tongue (Khmer) and English so that they will have “special treatments” to any aspects of
English which are different from those of the former. Teachers should make students more
motivated in learning English, use the appropriate materials to students‟ ability as well as ask
students to practice speaking English more frequently.

TÓM LƯỢC
Ngày nay tiếng Anh là một trong những ngôn ngữ quan trọng nhất thế giới. Tuy nhiên,
việc học tiếng Anh thì luôn khó đối với tất cả người học nói chung và đối với sinh viên Khmer
tại Đại học Cần Thơ nói riêng. Bài nghiên cứu những khó khăn của sinh viên Khmer trong học
tiếng Anh tại Đại học Cần Thơ nhằm tìm ra những khó khăn của họ trong học tiếng Anh gây ra
bởi yếu tố tiếng mẹ đẻ cũng như các yếu tố thái độ và động lực học. Bằng hình thức định tính
phiếu điều tra được phát cho 74 sinh viên Khmer đang theo học tiếng Anh không chuyên tại
trường để lấy số liệu. Dữ liệu thu được đã được phân tích bằng phần mềm SPSS . Kết quả cho
thấy, sinh viên Khmer thỉnh thoảng gặp khó khăn khi phát những âm tiếng Anh mà không có

trong hệ thống âm tiếng Khmer. Ngoài ra, thiếu động lực học từ giáo viên; tài liệu học tiếng Anh
khó cũng như thiếu môi trường thực hành nói tiếng Anh là những khó khăn mà sinh viên Khmer
gặp phải khi học Anh văn. Tuy nhiên, họ vẫn có thái độ tích cực khi học tiếng Anh . Từ kết quả
nghiên cứu, tác giả đưa ra một số kiến nghị đến giáo viên và sinh viên Khmer. Để học tiếng Anh
tốt hơn, ngoài có thái độ tích cực trong học tập, sinh viên cần biết sự giống và khác nhau giữa
tiếng mẹ đẻ và tiếng Anh từ đó có cách xử lý tốt đối với những phần trong tiếng Anh khác với
tiếng mẹ đẻ. Bên cạnh đó, giáo viên cần tạo ra hứng thú, tiếp thêm động lực cho sinh viên trong
học tiếng Anh, sử dụng tài liệu phù hợp với năng lực của sinh viên cũng như yêu cầu họ luyện
tập nói tiếng Anh nhiều hơn.
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, I would like to state general statement of the problem; statement of
the hypotheses, objectives, or questions. Besides, general organization and coverage of
the study are also included afterwards.
1. General statement of the problem
Nowadays, no one denies the importance of English language. It is clear that the
English language has become very dominant around the world. In some countries, it is a
native language, and in others, it is taught in schools as a second language. According to
“The world ten most influential languages” by Weber, G. (1995), it ranks the second of
the languages that have the most native speakers of the world with more than 508 million
people (after Mandarin Chinese with more than 1 billion people). It is the official
language of more countries than any other languages, including New Zealand, the U.S.A,
Australia, England, Zimbabwe, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, South Africa, and Canada.
According to Internet World Statistics English, it is also the language that is used most in

the Internet. People who know English can deal with the Internet, which is regard
information and communications revolution. It is clear that English is very necessary
today. We use it in different fields of life such as economy, e-commerce, medicine,
aviation tourism, travel, and so on. Especially, it is used in the field of education by the
university and institute for the scientific research.
Because of the necessity of English, millions of people all over the world learn
this language. In Vietnam, English is taught from the 6th grade in Secondary School not
only in the cities but also in the countryside. However, learning English seems to be not
easy to all learners, including Khmer learners who are considered to be more convenient
in learning English because of the similarities between their mother tongue and English.
For example, it is rare for Khmer speakers to have any problems with pronouncing initial
or medial – positioned consonant cluster such as /cr/, /pl/, /sm/, /tw/ because Khmer also
has a similar system of blending consonants together (Moore, S. & Bounchan. S., 2010).
Indeed, Khmer learners have met many difficulties in learning English.
Lightbown, M. and Spada, N. (1993) stated that learning English is not easy
because there are many factors affecting English learners such as intelligence, aptitude,
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age at which learner begins learning the language. Besides, the native language or the
mother tongue is one of the important factors in learning English (Kenworthy, 1987). It
can make learners learn English easily or cause difficulties to them. According to Lado,
R. (1957), “the elements that are similar to his native language will be simple for him,
and the elements that are different will be difficult”. On the other hand, in pronunciation,
when there is a sound in the target language, which is absent the learner native sound
inventory of vice versa, learners may not be able to produce or even perceive the sounds
(Avery, P. and Ehrlich, S. 1992). Moreover, the factor of attitude and motivation is also

one of the important factors leading to success “the more succeeds the greater one‟s
motivation, the greater one‟s motivation, the more one succeeds” (Lightbown & Spada,
1993). In other words, if learners have positive attitude and motivation in learning
English, it will motivate them in learning. In contrast, if they have negative motivation, it
will lead them to difficulties in learning English.
In brief, there are difficulties in learning English of English learners especially
Khmer CTU students. There are many factors affecting students; however, two main
factors that may directly or indirectly affect the result of Khmer students‟ language
learning are their mother tongue, and their attitude and motivation. These factors may
cause difficulties to Khmer learners. Being a Khmer student at CTU, I really want to help
Khmer students realize as well as overcome problems in learning English. Therefore, I
want to conduct the research that I named The difficulties of Khmer students in learning
English at Can Tho university (CTU).
2. Statement of the hypotheses, objectives and questions
2.1. Statement of the hypotheses
1. The differences between the mother tongue (Khmer) and English as well as lack
of attitude and motivation cause difficulties in learning English of Khmer CTU students.
2. Khmer CTU students‟ awareness of the differences between the mother tongue
(Khmer) and English is low.
2.2. Statement to the objectives
With this research, I want to:
1. find out the difficulties of Khmer CTU students in learning English caused by
the mother tongue as well as attitudes and motivation factors.
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1. measure Khmer students‟ awareness of the differences between Khmer and

English.
2.3. Statement of the questions
1. What are the difficulties in learning English of Khmer CTU students caused by
the mother tongue as well as attitudes and motivation factors?
2. To which extent are Khmer students aware of the differences between their
mother tongue and English?
3. General organization of the study
This thesis consists of five chapters:
Chapter 1 is introduction which consists of four following items: general statement
of the problem, statement of the hypotheses, objectives, questions, and general
organization of the study.
Chapter 2 is literature review. It relates to the difficulties caused by the mother
tongue in second language learning, the difficulties of Khmer Cambodian learners in
learning English, influence of L1 transfer, the difficulties caused by attitude and
motivation factors in second language learning.
Chapter 3 is research methodology. It includes research design, participants,
instruments, and research procedure.
Chapter 4 is research findings, including some difficulties that Khmer CTU
students suffer from learning English, as well as their awareness of the differences
between Khmer and English languages.
Chapter 5 is discussions. It is about the summary of research problems, methods,
and findings as well as conclusions and implications.

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CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, I will review the difficulties caused by the mother tongue in second
language learning, the difficulties of Khmer Cambodian learners in learning English,
influence of L1 transfer, the difficulties caused by attitudes and motivation factors in
second language learning.
1. THE DIFFICULTIES CAUSED BY THE MOTHER TONGUE IN SECOND
LANGUAGE LEARNING:
1.1 Overview of Khmer language
Khmer is the official language of Cambodia and is spoken by virtually all
Cambodians. Its origins lie mainly in a local language from the Mon-Khmer family and
the two ancient Indian languages, Pali and Sanskrit. Words of Khmer origin are typically
root words and are commonly found in the spoken language whereas words of Pali and
Sanskrit origin, in a Khmerized form, can be found in formal written language and
literature, including poetry. Khmer has a small number of vocabulary items borrowed
from Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, French, and most recently English (Moore, S. &
Bounchan, S. 2010). Based on the differences between English and Khmer first on
phonology then on grammar, the following section is some difficulties of Khmer
Cambodian learners in learning English which has been reported on the 6th CamTESOL
2010 by Moore, S. and Bounchan, S.
1.2. The difficulties of Khmer Cambodian learners in learning English:
a. In phonology
Consonants
English has 20 alphabetic consonants (or, 21 including letter „y‟), and an
additional 4 consonant sounds consisting of combined consonants. Khmer consonants are
more numerous .There are 33 consonants and sub-consonants as shown in Table 2.1, and
more complex since they make up just 21 individual distinctive phoneme sounds as
shown in Table 2.2. Moreover, there are 3 additional „invented‟ consonants in Khmer
(see Table 2.3) bringing the grand total to 24 consonant sounds.

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Table 2.1 Original Consonant in Khmer (adapted from Pov, O. 1968)

ញ

ឡ

Table 2.2 Distinctive phonemes in Khmer

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=

k

=

ng

=

c

10

ឡ

ញ

=

d

=

t

=

b

=

p

=

y

=

l

=

s

=

a

=

kh

=

j

=

gn

=

th

=

n

=

ph

=

m

=

r

=

v

=

h

The three „invented‟ consonant sounds, are shown in Table 2.3, and correspond to
phonemes borrowed from other languages such as French. In fact, invented consonants
use existing Khmer consonants in a new combination (Moore, S. & Bounchan, S. 2010)
.
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Table 2.3 Distinctive phoneme of invented consonant sounds in Khmer
=

f

=

g

=

z

Because of the differences between Khmer and English phonologies, some Khmer
learners of English may have difficulty pronouncing certain English sounds such as: //,
//, /t/, // and //.( Le, T. 2008 ; Moore, S. & Bounchan, S. 2010)

On the other hand, Khmer speakers do not instinctively voice the sound of final
position consonants in words. Thus, many students may drop /t/ and /d/ in „ant‟ and „and‟.
They pronounce them as /an/. However, unlike Thai or Vietnamese speakers, it is rarely
for Khmer speakers to have any problems with pronouncing initial or medial-positioned
consonant clusters, i.e. /cr/, /pl/, /sm/, /tw/ because Khmer also has a similar system of
blending consonants together (Lam, K. 2007).
There are 18 voiced consonants and 15 unvoiced consonants in the Khmer
alphabet. The next section is about the dependent and independent Khmer vowels.
Vowels
While English has approximately 14 vowel sounds, depending on the dialect
(Yallop, C. 1995) , there are 23 dependent vowels and 12 independent vowels in Khmer
(see Table 2.4). The sounds made by independent vowels are constant, whereas the
sounds of dependent vowels vary, depending on nearby consonants being either voiced or
unvoiced.

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Table 2.4 Dependent and Independent Khmer Vowels: Adapted from Tonkin, D. (1962)
Dependent Vowels
=

a:

=

ae

=

e

=

ai

=

ei

=

ao

=

oe

=

aow

=

oe

=

oom

=

o

=

om

=

o

=

am

=

uo

=

ah

=

aoe

=

oh

=

ua

=

eh

=

ie

=

aoh

=

e
Independent Vowels
ឥ

=

e

ឦ

=

ei

ឧ

=

u

ឪ

=

aow

ឫ

=

roe

ឬ

=

roe

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ឭ

=

loe

ឮ

=

loe

ឯ

=

ae

ឰ

=

ai

ឱ

=

ao

ឳ

=

aow

Stress and Intonation
Unlike English, Khmer does not have stress on individual words, partly because
most Khmer words are monosyllabic. However, Khmer speakers can add and do shift

their pitch, stress, or tone to suit the purposes of their talk (e.g., giving polite requests,
showing surprises, expressing anger or sadness, etc…)
b. In grammar
Khmer and English grammar are alike in one very important aspect – their typical
word order of „SOV‟ : Subject followed by Verb followed by Object (Chhun, L. 2007).
This share „logic‟ enables even beginner language learners to make meanings in
rudimentary English. However, there are some ways in which Khmer grammar is
dissimilar to English grammar. Below are some most significant differences that may
cause difficulties to Khmer learners of English:
Plural Nouns
Khmer does not have a distinctive plural form of nouns as in English. Words that
represent quantity (e.g. some, a few, several, five…) have to be added after the nouns to
show the plural form:
Ex 1:
/kmeng klah leng knong suon/
Sometimes the noun is repeated to show its plural form:
Ex 2:

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/kmeng kmeng leng knong suon/
Some children play in the garden
However, there is no rule about repeating nouns, and not all nouns can be repeated
to show their plural form. Generally, only one-sylable words are likely to be repeated in
this manner.
Because of the differences in the plural form between Khmer and English, Khmer

learners of English usually face difficulties in remembering to add -s,-es, or –ies to form
the plural form of regular nouns in English, and to change the word forms for irregular
nouns especially in speaking. For example:
Ex 3: The girl are playing in the park
Verb forms and tenses
Khmer verb forms do not change as English verbs do according to number and
gender. This section is about the significant differences between how Khmer and English
verbs are formed and used.
For present simple:
Khmer learners for English may forget to add –s, -es, or –ies to English verbs or to
change the verb forms for appropriate agreement in third person singular cases. For
example:
Ex 4: My mother work at the market.
Ex 5: He have 3 children.
For present continuous:
To express a continuing action in Khmer, we use the word

/kampoung/ or

/kampoung tae/ to add in front of a verb. For example:
Ex 6:

/kort kampoung tae tveur kar/
He is working

Ex 7:

/yeay Chan kampoung meul touraktuos/
Mrs Chan is watching television
Because of the differences in expressing the continuing action in Khmer and

English, Khmer students may make mistakes in using the present simple form to express
continuous tenses. For example:
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Ex8: Look! She come(s) to us.
Or they may remember to use the –ing form, but may forget to use an auxiliary verb.
Ex 9: Look! She coming to us.
For past tense:
To express an action happened in the past in Khmer we use the word

/barn/

to add in front of a verb. For example:
Ex 10:
/kjom barn touv Siem Reap kal pi chnam touv/
I went to Siem Reap last year
However most of the time (especially in speaking) the word barn is not in fact
used – thus, Khmer students usually make grammatical mistakes by not changing verb
forms in affirmative statements for appropriate past tenses (especially with irregular
verbs). For example:
Ex 11: I see him yesterday
Ex 12: We went shopping and buy some shirts
For future tense:
Like the word “will” in English, a word

/nueng/ in Khmer is added in front of

a verb to express action in the future. For example:
Ex 13:

ញ

/kort nueng vil vign/

He will come back
However, normally Khmer tend to omit the word nueng and just use the verb to
say what they will or are going to do by adding the time frame. Thus, common mistakes
made by Khmer students when they try to express future actions can be:
Ex 14: I do my homework soon.
Ex 15: I finish my study next year.
Adjectives
In Khmer language, adjectives are normally placed after nouns, except in fomal
writing, literature or poetry when used with words borrowed from Pali or Sanskrit
(Chhim, S. 1965).
Ex 16:

/kmeng tauj/

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little children

16

Ex 17:

/arkea kpuohs/

tall building

With words borrowed from Pali or Sanskrit, adjectives can precede the nouns (Chhim, S.
1965). For example,
Ex 18:

/oudam pheakriyea/

Super wife

Articles and prepositions
Unlike English, there is no article use in Khmer. Thus, Khmer students are likely
to struggle with the appropriate use of the article „the‟, either omitting it or using it where
it is not necessary.
Similarly, they may also struggle with the correct use of prepositions as a result of
the direct transfer of prepositions used in Khmer. For example:
Ex 19:

jealous with

Ex 20:

interested with

Ex 21:

stay on bed

Ex 22:

married with

1.3 The influence of L1 transfer
The elements that are similar to learners‟ native language will be simple for them
and those elements that are different will be difficult (Lado, R. 1957; Swan, M & Smith,
B. 1987). They implied to talk about the important role of language transfer in the
acquisition of a second language. However, what is language transfer?
The term “language transfer” is defined differently by many authors. Firstly,
language transfer is the influence resulting from similarities and differences between the
target language and any other language that has been previously and perhaps imperfectly
acquired (Odlin, 1989). Another definition of language transfer is “the use of native
language (or other language) knowledge – in some unclear way – in the inquisition of a
second language (or additional language) (Gass & Selimcer, 1992) whereas, by linguistic
transfer, we mean what the learners carry over to or generalize in their native language
helps them learn to use a target language. There are two kinds of language transfer,
including negative transfer and positive transfer. Interference is also considered as
negative transfer. It occurs when language learner commits errors because of the
dissimilarity between learner L1 and L2. In contrast, positive transfer is a facilitation,
which results from similarity between L1 and L2. In Cummin‟s Common Underlying
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Proficiency (CCUP) theory, another concept is generally in the field of second language
acquisition. This model shows the relationships between native language and second
language. According to Cummins, J (2000), “concept is most readily developed in the
first language and once developed, is accessible through the second language. In other
words, what we learn in one language transfer into the new language” (Freeman, 1994,
p.176).
The model is sometimes referred to as the “iceberg model” (Cummins, J. 2000)

“Iceberg model” – The relationships between native language and second
language (Cummins, J. 2000)
Extensive research has already been done in the area of native language
interference on the target language. Dulay et al., (1982) defined interference on the target
language as automatic transfer due to habit of the surface structure of the first language
on to the surface of the target language. Besides, Lott (1983) defined interference as
“errors in the learner use of the foreign language that can be traced back to the mother
tongue”.
As mentioned above, in language transfer, the elements are different will be
difficult for the learner in learning the target language (Lado, 1957). Beardsmore (1982)
suggests many difficulties that a second language learner has with the phonology;
vocabulary and grammar of L2 are due to the interference of habit from L1. In writing or
speaking the target language, second language learner tends to rely on their native
language (L1) structure to produce a respond. If the structures of two languages are
different, then one could expect a relatively high frequency of errors to occur in L2
(Dechert, 1983 and Ellis, 1997). It appears to be much more difficult for an adult to learn
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a second language system that is the first language partly in terms of the kind of meaning
already learned in the first language (Carroll, 1964; Albert and Obler, 1978; and Larson –
Freeman and Long, 1991). On the other hand, Belbe (1988) suggests that in learning a
second language, L1 responses are grafted on to L2 responses. Both are made to a
common set of learning responses. Other things being equal, the learner is less fluent in
L2 and the kind of expression that he uses in L2 bear telltale traces of the structure of L1.
In short, native language plays an important role in second language acquisition. It
can cause difficulties to the learner in case there are the differences between the native
language and the target language. SLA researchers conclude that language distance
cannot be used to predict students‟ ease and difficulties in their language learning
process. It is still helpful for ESL teacher and learner to know the similarities and
difficulties between the mother tongue and the target language (L2) as they can have a
deeper understanding of students‟ difficulties (errors) in language learning. Therefore,
they can also have more effective teaching methodologies.
2. The difficulties caused by attitudes and motivation factors in learning English
There are many factors affecting second language learning. They can help English
learner learn English easily or cause difficulties to them. According to Lightbown and
Spada (1993), these factors include intelligence, aptitude, and personality, learning style,
age of acquisition as well as attitudes and motivation. However, learner‟s motivation has
been widely accepted as a key factor which influences the rate and success of second
language learning (Donough, 1983; Ellis, 1994). Donough (1983) also stated that
“motivation of the students is one of the most important factors influencing their success
or failure in learning the language”. Another factor is the learner‟s attitudes. This is also
an English learner‟s motivation in language learning. It is affected by his/her attitudes
and has been considered a prime concern in language learning research. In addition,
Gardner and Lambert (1997) state “his (the learner‟s) motivation to learn is thought to be
determined by his attitudes towards the other group in particular and by his orientation
towards the learning task itself”.
In order to know the difficulties caused by the motivation and attitude, it is
necessary to know what motivation and attitudes are. To motivation, Atkinson (2000)

defines motivation as “a cluster of factors that „energize‟ the behavior and give it
direction”. Thus, in Atkinson‟s point of view, motivation is a term used to describe what
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energizes a person and what directs his activity. Energy and direction are at the center of
motivation. Whereas Ofoegbu, F (2004, as cited in Berelson, Steiner 1964 and Tracy
2000) define motivation as all those inner striving conditions, such as wishes, desires, and
urges to stimulate the interest of a person in an activity. To attitude, Gardner (1980)
defines the term attitude as “the sum total of a man‟s instinct about any specified topic”.
Ajzam (1988) considers attitudes as “a disposition to respond favorably or unfavorably to
an object, person, institution or event. However, Wenden (1991) proposed a broader
definition of the concept “attitudes” differently. He states that the term attitude includes
three components namely, cognitive, affective and behavioral. A cognitive component is
made up of the beliefs and ideas or opinions about the object of the attitude. The affective
one refers to the feelings and emotions that one has towards an object „like‟ „dislike‟
„with‟ or „against‟. Finally, the behavioral components refer to one‟s consisting actions or
behavioral intentions towards the object. For example, student‟s attitude in learning
English is reflected by learner‟s reading autonomy or self-studying in English.
As mentioned above, the factor of attitudes and motivation can make English
learners learn English easily or cause difficulties to them. Raines (2007) said that
attitudes are expressed by our action, our action better know as our behavior. Therefore,
when we show correct behavior to English learning, we are also showing the positive
attitude. If we have the positive attitude, we will learn English with ease. On the contrary,
when we have negative one, we will learn English difficultly. There are several of subfactors of motivation in second language learning. These sub-factors may be either
positive or negative to the learners. The following section is the sub-factors of motivation
which may cause difficulties to English learners.

Teacher
In L2 learning, teachers play a vital role since the learning of the target language
rests on the competency of the teachers. In fact, as Wiseman et al. (2000) confirm,
teachers can motivate students by being enthusiastic about their teaching, and for learners
themselves, when teachers demonstrate that learning is important, motivating and
relevant, students will become increasingly self-motivated to be active learner. A teacher
who is knowledgeable about the target language and able to adopt various teaching
methods to impact or teach the language is likely to be a positive motivating factor for the
L2 learners, so they will learn the language more easily and more effectively; thereby
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gaining more motivation in learning. As Lightbown, M., and Spada, N. (1993) affirm,
there are the relationships between motivation and success in second language learning –
the more one succeeds, the greater one‟s motivation, the more one succeeds. In contrast,
where the competence of the teacher in the L2 is not sound, the result will be negative
motivation. Students will learn the language difficultly.
Learning materials
Another important factor that influences on the learners‟ motivation and success
is the learning material. According to Lightbown, M., and Spada, N. (1993), for learning
to be successful, the material which is taught must be appropriate for the learner‟s stage
of development. The materials include, textbook, library, classroom environment
conducive to learning, language laboratory and so on. Where all these materials are
readily available, the learning of such language as an L2 will be made easier; however, in
a condition where the materials are not readily available or too hard to the students, there
tends to be no motivation in learning.
Speaking environment

Environment is another motivation factor in L2 learning. Where a leaner lives in
the environment in which the language is used as a major language, it will aid the quick
learning of the language. Moreover being in an English speaking environment will
improve our English speaking skills by helping us communicate more easily and
effectively (Nutt, 2002). Living in an English Speaking Environment means that Living
with native English speakers is a great way to learn English. Lightbown, M., and Spada,
N. (1993) stated, “Language is affected by many factors. Among them, opportunity is for
interaction with speakers of the target language.” In other words, where the environment
is conducive or used, the learning of the L2 will be easier than when the leaner is not in
such an environment. However, most of the difficulty of Asian English learners is lack of
speaking environment. They tend to use their native language in English class, for
example “in Cambodia, students are „always‟ speaking Khmer in their English lessons”
(Moore, S. and Bounchan, S. 2010) which leads them to difficulties in English speaking.

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CHAPTER 3
METHODS
In the previous chapter, chapter 2, I have presented the literature review including
the difficulties caused by factors of the mother tongue as well as factors of attitudes and
motivation in L2 learning. In this chapter, I will present the research design, description
of participants and instruments and research procedure used for my research.
1. Research design
This research used a descriptive approach which was conducted to investigate the
difficulties of Khmer CTU students in learning English.
2. Description of participants and instruments

2.1. Participants
The participants were 74 Khmer CTU students of non-major English program,
who were willing to take part in my research. They were Khmer students who came from
many provinces in the Mekong Delta, commonly from Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, An Giang,
Kien Giang, and Vinh Long. Their ages were a bit different (from 18 to 22). They have
different levels of English knowledge as well as Khmer one (some students can listen and
speak Khmer language but cannot read and write it)
2.2. Research instruments
To measure Khmer learners‟ difficulties in learning English, I designed a
questionnaire. The first part of the survey questionnaire was the participants‟ personal
information such as their current class, their English learning background as well as their
self-assessement of English level. The questionnaire was partly adapted from Lado
(1957, 1964), Gardner (1985), Lightbown, M. and Spada, N. (1993), Moore, S. and
Bounchan, S. (2010) (see appendix 1 and 2 for detailed description of the adaptation and
design of the questionnaire). In the questionnaire, there were 16 items which were
arranged randomly. All of the items were categorized into four clusters containing seven
groups (see Table 3.1).

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Table 3.1. Clusters of questionnaire
Cluster

Aims

Mother tongue Students‟ difficulties affected by L1 transfer

Items
4, 9

factor
Students‟ attitude to English learning

10, 11, 15

Students‟ self-study ability in learning

6, 12 ,13

Motivation

Teacher with motivation

3

factor

Material with motivation

16

Speaking environment with motivation

1, 5, 8, 14

Attitude factor

Students‟

Students‟ awareness of the differences between 2, 7

awareness

Khmer and English

Because I wanted to measure the level “how often” the students have difficulties
in learning English, I designed my questionnaire on the six-point scale of frequency
(adapted from Azar, 1999). The scale goes from 5: usually (99-90%), 4: often (less than
90-75%), 3: sometimes (less than 75-25%), 2: seldom (less than 25-10%), 1: rarely (less
than 10-1%) to 0: never (0%). However, sentence 15 is a reversed question of the
sentence 10 and 11. Therefore, its scale goes from 0: usually (99-90%) to 5: never: (0%)
The questionnaire was translated into Vietnamese to ensure the maximum
understanding for students learning English as a foreign language (see Appendix 2). The
Vietnamese version was checked for its semantic validity by my supervisor.
Piloting the questionnaire
The Vietnamese questionnaires were then piloted. The questionnaires were
delivered to 40 Khmer CTU students who were non-major English students. The internal
consistency was  =.71, acceptable degree of reliability.
3.3. Research procedure
After piloting the questionnaire, the questionnaire was delivered to 74 Khmer
students in D2 dormitory. Before they started, I had given them clear instructions so that
they could understand what they were going to do. After that they completed the
questionnaire in 15 minutes. 74 questionnaires were handed out and 74 ones were
collected. The internal consistence was rather high =.74.

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CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
In chapter 3, I have presented the method used in my study. There are five sections
which were presented: research questions, designs, participants, instruments and
procedures. In this chapter, I will report about the data collected and the statistic
analysis.
1. The level of difficulties in learning English of Khmer CTU students
The result of overall mean score of level of difficulties in learning English caused
by the mother tongue; attitude factor; motivation factor and Khmer students‟ awareness
of differences between English and Khmer.
1.1 The level of difficulties in learning English caused by the mother tongue
Table 4.1.1.a The mean score of level of difficulties in learning English caused by the
mother tongue factor
M (SD)

Min-Max

Difficulties in learning
caused by the mother tongue

3.23 (1.05)

0-5

Item 4

2.58 (1.61)

0-5

Item 9

3.82 (1.95)

0-5

From the table 4.1.1.a, we observe that most students sometimes face difficulties
in learning English caused by the mother tongue (M= 3.23, SD= 1.05). However, the
minimum score (Min = 0) and the maximum score (Max = 5) imply that some students
usually have difficulties in learning because of mother tongue, but some are not.
Specifically, the mean score M= 3.82 (SD= 1.59) of item 4 reveals that most of them
sometimes have difficulties in pronouncing the sound that do not have in Khmer
language system (about 70% of frequency scale). Nevertheless, some students usually
have troubles in this problem, the rest ones do not (Min = 0, Max= 5). In addition, Khmer
students also asserted that they “seldom” apply their first language knowledge to make
English sentences (M= 2.58, SD= 1.61), just about 16% on frequency level. However, the
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maximum score (Max = 5) of item 4 also indicates that first language knowledge is
usually applied in making English sentences by a few students. In the next part, the
difficulties in learning English caused by factor of attitude will be presented.

1.2 The difficulties in learning English caused by factor of attitude
In terms of difficulties in learning English caused by factor of attitude, the mean
score M= 3.82 (SD= .85) signifies that most of Khmer students often have good attitude
to English learning (more than 70%). However, the minimum scores of attitude factor
Min= 2 imply that some students seldom have good attitude in learning English. Table
4.1.1b. shows statistic results of attitude factor which may cause difficulties to students‟
learning English.
Table 4.1.1.b Descriptive statistics of difficulties in learning English caused by factor of
attitude
N= 74

M (SD)

Khmer students‟ attitude

3.82 (.85)

Min – Max
2–5

Table 4.1.1.b.1 Descriptive statistics of specific items of attitude factor
Min – Max

N= 74

M (SD)

Item 10

4.01 (1.49)

0–5

Item 11

3.69 (1.26)

0–5

Item 15

4.84 (1.10)

1–5

In the Descriptive statistic of item 10, a high level of frequency was showed (more than
75% frequency) by the mean score M= 4.01 (SD= 1.49). It means that students often
learn English for their good job. However, there are some students never learn English to
get a good job (Min= 0). From table 4.1.1.b.1, we can see that an average level of good
score that helps Khmer students have motivation to learn English (M= 3.69, about 50%,
SD= 1.26). we can infer that they sometimes learn English because of scores, but some
students never learn because of scores (Min =0). In other words, the level of score effects
Khmer students‟ learning is very low (about 5% of frequency scale). The mean score of
item 15 M= 4.84 (SD= 1.10) indicates that most students rarely learn English just for

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