| Popis: |
Research suggests that increases in the flow of foreigners and financial investments into Cambodia are having an influence on Cambodian people; moreover, these affects can be seen as a byproduct of globalization. This study investigated the relationships between Cambodian university students' English proficiency, attitudes toward non-Cambodian people, students’ motivation to study English, and intercultural contact with "foreigners". A convenience sample (N=363) was drawn from the 17 classes at Royal University of Phnom Penh's(RUPP) English Language Support Unit (ELSU). English proficiency was measured by the researchers' original scale. To assure validity of English proficiency, the TOEFL was administered (N=52) and oral interviews were conducted (N=57) with a sub-group of students. Motivation and the degree of contact with foreigners were measured by the researchers’ original scale. And attitudes toward non-Cambodians were measured through semantic differential scales and social distance scales. Students perceived English ability was in the low-intermediate range and the TOEFL scores of the subgroup (N=52) strongly correlated with these self-assessment ratings. The degree of Contact with foreigners was relatively high; nearly 86 percent of the respondents had contact with foreigners. A moderate positive significant correlation (r=.38) was found between English Proficiency and Contact. To understand more about the results, a discussion of Cambodia's social context is provided and suggestions are made for future research |
