Khmer-thai people’s attitudes and motivations in studing standard khmer in changwat surin

Abstract

Motivated by the problem of teaching Khmer language in Khmer-Thai’s communities in Surin province, this study examines the establishment and types of schools that teach Standard Khmer and analyzes the factors that motivate Khmer-Thai people to study Standard Khmer. Some parts of the data were taken from an annual report of the private school, named Language and Culture Association of Surin Province (LCASP) and Khmer teaching materials provided by government schools and media such as newspapers and video clips; and photos given by government schools and LCASP. The other parts were collected from questionnaires and in-depth interviews with directors, school principals, teachers, students, parents/caretakers and monks. The findings of this study reveal that there are two available means to learn Khmer in Changwat Surin: official and unofficial methods. The unofficial method includes studying Khmer from monks at Buddhist temples as well as at private schools, especially, the Khmer Language and Culture Association of Surin Province, which offered free Standard Khmer courses. The official way is to study Khmer at government schools established by the Thai Ministry of Education in 2010. The Thai government has included Khmer as well as ASEAN regional languages into school curriculum throughout the province to prepare the students for the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. The results on language attitudes suggest that most Khmer-Thai people have positive attitudes toward Standard Khmer. The main reasons why they study Standard Khmer are threefold: (i) sociocultural motivation: to know their ancestral language, to preserve their ethnic identity; (ii) linguistic motivation: to be proficient in Standard Khmer, it is compulsory and (iii) economic motivation: to get a job in Cambodia after the emergence of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. Some old Khmer-Thai people hold neutral and negative attitudes toward Standard Khmer due to historical troubled situation in Cambodia while some show positive attitudes due to ASEAN economic privilege. The findings also suggest that Khmer-Thai people’s seven social factors consisting of occupation, gender, age, educational level, Northern Khmer language background, their Knowledge of Cambodia, and level of interest in studying Khmer tend to influence their motivation for studying the language.