Negotiating multilingual language education through a democratic all-stakeholder discussion in Cambodian universities: the teaching of less-learned languages other than English
Negotiating multilingual language education through a democratic all-stakeholder discussion in Cambodian universities: the teaching of less-learned languages other than English
Language education policy and planning in Cambodia reflect the government's linguistic balancing act, especially after the government brought less-learned languages other than English into higher education in the 1990s. Despite the government asking universities to incorporate all stakeholders' views to redesign multilingual curricula, the process may silence the voice of those with lesser power, e.g., students and teaching staff, causing tensions and controversy in the context where multiple organizations and countries vie for their symbolic influence. Guided by an ecological perspective (e.g., Baldauf 2006) and Choi's (2018) analytical framework, the study analyses the complex negotiation process to achieve multilingualism via democratic all-stakeholder discussion. The study synthesizes findings from (1) the analysis of all language programs (including compulsory and optional, and general and specialization programs), (2) an online survey with 80 purposively sampled academics in six universities, a third of whom work as government policymakers, and (3) a case study conducted in one of these universities, involving four lecturers and six leaders. The study informs policymakers, education leaders, and researchers about a decision-making process in introducing languages of lesser power into higher education in Cambodia and a similar context elsewhere to bring about true democratic decision-making against volatile power dynamics.
Choi, Tae-Hee
3cec7c93-92cd-4329-b0a7-3b208c65dcb7
2025
Choi, Tae-Hee
3cec7c93-92cd-4329-b0a7-3b208c65dcb7
Choi, Tae-Hee
(2025)
Negotiating multilingual language education through a democratic all-stakeholder discussion in Cambodian universities: the teaching of less-learned languages other than English.
In,
Wei, Weixiao and Chao, Der-lin
(eds.)
The Routledge Handbook of the Sociopolitical Context of Language Learning.
1 ed.
London.
Routledge.
Record type:
Book Section
Abstract
Language education policy and planning in Cambodia reflect the government's linguistic balancing act, especially after the government brought less-learned languages other than English into higher education in the 1990s. Despite the government asking universities to incorporate all stakeholders' views to redesign multilingual curricula, the process may silence the voice of those with lesser power, e.g., students and teaching staff, causing tensions and controversy in the context where multiple organizations and countries vie for their symbolic influence. Guided by an ecological perspective (e.g., Baldauf 2006) and Choi's (2018) analytical framework, the study analyses the complex negotiation process to achieve multilingualism via democratic all-stakeholder discussion. The study synthesizes findings from (1) the analysis of all language programs (including compulsory and optional, and general and specialization programs), (2) an online survey with 80 purposively sampled academics in six universities, a third of whom work as government policymakers, and (3) a case study conducted in one of these universities, involving four lecturers and six leaders. The study informs policymakers, education leaders, and researchers about a decision-making process in introducing languages of lesser power into higher education in Cambodia and a similar context elsewhere to bring about true democratic decision-making against volatile power dynamics.
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Published date: 2025
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Local EPrints ID: 500129
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/500129
PURE UUID: fa2bb829-227d-4bd6-a6d3-03622c1f6b0c
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Date deposited: 15 Apr 2025 17:12
Last modified: 16 Apr 2025 02:12
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Contributors
Author:
Tae-Hee Choi
Editor:
Weixiao Wei
Editor:
Der-lin Chao
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