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7/31/2019 The Ifl Prospect Vol2 Issue1 Oct 2009-Jan 2010
1/8
Our Khmer culture is too pre-cious to be lost, insisted Ma-dam Meas Vanna, the Director
of the Institute of Foreign Lan-
guages (IFL).
As she sits down and talks
with us for this article, Madam
Meas Vanna has more thanmuch to inspire students for
generations to come.
Growing up in a French-
speaking environment, MadamMeas Vanna is as fluent in
French as she is in Khmer. Backin 1960s and early 1970s, she
was always a top student in
Ren Descartes, a renowned
French-only school then. I was
born with a great aptitude to
learn this language,she recallsher early childhood.
Unfortunately, like other
students at that time, Madam
Meass education was inter-rupted by civil wars so many
times that it was not until 1991that she managed to finish her
high school education. Upon
her graduation with a Bachelor
of Education in French from
Royal University of Phnom
Penh, she began her Frenchteaching career in 1993 and
later continued her education
R O Y A L U N I V E R S I T Y O F P H N O M P E N H
Workshop on Multi-lingualism and Success in Learning at University
English Departments NewsletterINSIDE THIS ISSUE
Workshop on Multi-
lingualism and Success
in Learning at University
1
Foreign Language,
Family and Khmer Cul-
ture
1
Procrastination: An
Overlooked Stumbling
Block
2
Education: How far shall
we go?
2
In Pursuit of Happiness 3
Did You Know? 3
The Triplets of Luck 4
Students Satisfaction
Towards SAC
5
Brain Teasers / Riddles 8
lecture and exchange of ideas,the workshop participants
came to a deeper realization ofthe roles Khmer language plays
in determining success inlearning English. At the same
time, rapport between lectur-
ers and students is consideredcrucial and should receive am-
ple attention.
Asked what he had learnt
from the workshop, Lecturer
Thlork Rumdoh replied in anenthusiastic manner, The
workshop was useful and bene-
ficial in language teaching and
At least twice every semester,
the English Department of In-stitute of Foreign Languages
(IFL) organizes workshops forlecturers and students to de-
velop the lecturers teaching
effectiveness and to foster thestudents learning.
On the morning of October
10, 2009, IFL organized a staff
development workshop for its
lecturers on the theme The
Role of Multi-lingualism inLanguage Teaching. Dr. Mada-
lena Cruz Ferreira, a PhD in
Linguistics and Phonetics fromthe University of Manchester
was the guest speaker. Thepurpose of this workshop was
to give the participants knowl-edge about multi-lingual teach-
ing and learning at the univer-
sity level.Divided into two parts
with a 25-minute break for
refreshments, the workshop
started with a brief introduc-
tion of Dr. Madalena and endedwith the participants discus-
sion on the topics raised during
the workshop. Through the
learning at the university level,
especially in bringing aware-
ness to both lecturers and stu-
dents that learning is a two-way
interaction and a shared re-sponsibility.
Born and grown up in
Cambodia speaking Khmer asthe native language, Khmer IFL
lecturers have the advantage of
sharing the first language with
IFL students the common
ground which enables the lec-
turers to adapt their lessons tomeet specific needs and wants
of the students. Meanwhile,
bringing up Khmer languagecases in an English class does
not deemphasize the goal of
learning English. Instead, itmay increase students enlight-enment of both languages.
As implied, your success in
learning at IFL largely lies in
your hands. Take more respon-
sibility in your learning and the
next time you hear an interest-ing phrase in English from your
lecturer, remember to compare
it to that in Khmer. You mayjust love both versions.
Foreign Language, Family and Khmer Culture
7/31/2019 The Ifl Prospect Vol2 Issue1 Oct 2009-Jan 2010
2/8
7/31/2019 The Ifl Prospect Vol2 Issue1 Oct 2009-Jan 2010
3/8
STUDY SKILLS
Bad Boys?Will Smith! Bad Boys
II? Will Smith! I, Robot? Will
Smith! Hancock? Oh come on!Will Smith again! How can this
guy always be a superhero with
happiness all around him? Wait
a minute. In Pursuit of Hap-
pyness, Will plays a differentcharactera poor guy who
struggles in pursuit of his own
happiness.
What is happiness? Where
is it? Is it a journey or a goal?
And what have you done to
achieve it? In this article, I willshare with you some important
experience in achieving aca-demic happiness, especially
that in Literature Studies.
Happiness in Literature
Studies, largely, comes withanswers to three questions: (1)
What is a literary text? (2) Why
do I read it? And (3) How do I
read it? Answers to these ques-
tions might vary, but they are
important considerations and
guidelines in learning Litera-ture Studies that can help an-
swer the questions.
With these questions, you
will be forced to think of what
you are reading and the bene-fits you can get from reading it.
Literary texts are beyond
words printed in books. Rob-
erts (2003) captures the es-
sence of literary texts by equat-
ing them to triggers whichstretch peoples mind and
imagination to shape their
goals and to recognize theirdreams in different places and
times. Similarly, Collie and Sla-
ter (1987) argue that benefits
of reading literary texts arenumerous, which include lan-
guage and cultural enrichment,
knowledge of a societys values,
and personal development. In
short, literature enables you to
see the words, the world and
beyond.It is really helpful to under-
stand the nature of questions
asked about literary texts. Makesure that you understand the
different types of questions and
the necessary coverage of your
responses to the questions. Toillustrate how to carry this out,
lets read the following excerpt
from the story The Hitchhiker
by Roald Dahl (1953) and the
questions that follow.
I was driving to London by
myself. It was a lovely June day.
They were haymaking in the
fields and there were buttercups
along both sides of the road. I
was whispering along at seventy
miles an hour, leaning back com-
fortably in my seat, with no
more than a couple of fingers
resting lightly on the wheel to
keep her steady. Ahead of me
was a man thumbing a lift. I
In Pursuit of Happiness
feeder of procrastination drags
us back and we procrastinate
again: Temptation. With thelatest technological advance-
ment, it is now easier than ever
to get tempted. TV, mobile
phone, video games, iPod, Inter-
net, and many more are justwithin the reach of our hands
and could be enjoyed with just
a click. These guilty pleasures
generate countless excuses for
us to procrastinate effortlessly.We know procrastination isbad, yet we are either too lazy
or too tempted to fight it.
However, when we suc-cumb to temptation and pro-
crastination, the loss can be
huge. It is now high time weacted before procrastination
gets the best of us.
Like other obstinate habits,
procrastination has been
proven hard to kick. Effort,
practice and perseverance andmore are needed. The followingare several strategies I have
been using to break this bad
habit.
First, a task can be dividedinto smaller doable subtasks.
For example, an assignment can
be done in stagesbrainstorming, outlining, writ-
ing a body paragraph, etc. Such
subtasks can be achieved on a
daily basis and they make an
assignment appear easier tocomplete. In addition to the
task division, notes of priori-
tized subtasks can be made as a
reminder. Just check the notes
frequently and cross out thesubtasks which have beendone. Doing subtasks gives us a
sense of achievement and, thus,
is motivating.The second strategy is to
reward ourselves after hard
work. Make an accomplishmentof a long-term goal a mission to
receive an affordable reward
we have wanted. The reward
does not have to be expensive
and could be as simple as tak-
ing a workfree break or treat-
ing ourselves to a nice meal.
Thethirdstrategy involvesa fight against our temptation.
A reasonably balanced schedule
may help us stay on target anddistract us from getting
tempted. Just get tough!
Fourth, experiment what
works and what does not. Try
out the above strategies one ata time and check what is effec-
tive. A combination of a few
strategies could help even more
as they reinforce one another
and strengthen our will.Fifth, stay motivated. Bad
habits are easy to gain but hard
to lose. Kicking them takes time
and setbacks may prevail. Justbe prepared. Do not surrender.
Keep the fighting spirit high.
Which strategies work?Remember I am still a good
procrastinator myself. Lets try
them together and save our-
selves the time, effort and
money procrastination costs.
ReferencesBorenstein, S. (2007). Putting off reading this until tax time. Retrieved December 15, 2007, from
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2007/01/11/put_off_reading_this_until_tax...Ellis, A. & Knaus, W. J. (1977). Overcoming procrastination. New York: The New American Library, Inc.
Want us to hear your voice?Send us an article,
comments, suggestions,photos, and more
to
Volume 2, Issue 1 (October 2009 - January 2010)
Procrastination ...
7/31/2019 The Ifl Prospect Vol2 Issue1 Oct 2009-Jan 2010
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STUDY SKILLS
Triplets of Luck
The sky is the limit in Crea-
tive Writing. With entertaining
twists and turns, Creative Writ-
ing can take us out of the world
to a place beyond imagination.
Instructed to include the charac-
ter, place, setting and situation
given by his lecturer, NguonChhayleang, a year three stu-
dent in the morning shift, crea-
tively penned the story below.
A few droplets of water left
from the last night rain sleeping
on tree branches were rolling
down gracefully to the red fer-tile ground and were absorbed
abruptly and thirstily as the
rainy night was turning into
another hot day. The sun was
starting to give off light again. Acovey of birds were flying here
and there across the about-to-
turn-green landscape, while the
little ants were scuttling around
under the mango tree lookingfor a place to store their sum-
mer supplies. Behind themango tree stood an old,
gloomy and lonely house of the
talented herbalist Pitou, a man
who had left his laboratory inPhnom Penh to find herbs inthe big forest of Mondulkiri
province.Inside the house, a woman
lying on the aged mat was
moaning with excruciating
pain. Her eyes opened widewith a few drops of tears rolling
down her pale cheeks. Her
hands were gripping a piece of
old cloth hung from the central
pillar of the house. The droplets
of her sweat, as big as corn
seeds, were running profuselyoff her forehead. Crouching
beside was an over-fifty mid-
wife.
Push harder, my daugh-
ter, the midwife cried.Im afraid I cant, Pisey
replied in a tremulous voice.
Yes, you can. Its almost
over. PUSH, MY DAUGHTER.
PUSH. assured the midwife,
reaching to caress her.
Searching endlessly forherbs in the forest, Pitou didnot know that his wife was giv-
ing an abnormal birth. Pisey
was supposed to be due at the
end of the month. Luckily, the
midwife was coming across his
house while Pisey was cryingfor help.
After several hours, Pitou
had collected many types ofleaves, dead twigs, grass weeds,
spices and plants. Among these
herbs was a violet plant Pitous
grandfather had shown him inhis childhood. Contented with
his hard work, Pitou was walk-
ing home wearing a basket of
herbs on his back and a broad
smile on his lips.
Approaching his house,
Pitou was greeted with astrange sound. Upon reaching
the middle of his house, in be-
wilderment, Pitou found Pisey
resting on a mat with three
little babies lying in a row be-
side her. The three mouthswere wide open, letting out
deafening cries. Pitou was
stunned like he was hit by a
stone.
Are you okay, darling?
muttered Pitou finally, feelingguilty about his absence duringPiseys birth-giving.
Im okay now that you are
my 32 years studying up to this
time. I settled down and startedto work conscientiously to real-ize my dreams and to meet the
expectations of my family, the
institute, and the country.
Yet studying is more addic-
tive than I thought. I soon be-
gan to see that I can contributeeven more if I get a PhD. I
started applying for a scholar-
ship and just recently I won
one. I will be leaving Cambodia
soon. I will be facing many
more challenges in both my
academic and personal endeav-
ors, but I am hopeful.Again, looking back at
where I came from, I could
hardly believe myself that I
have come this far. So what is it
that drives me this far?First, it is friends. Make
friends with the right people
and you will be a better person.
I owe my success in life to many
good friends who influence mein many positive ways. Second,
it is family. Not that I have asupportive family or a cozy one,
but it is the lack of such things
that urges me to find comfort in
education. I find peace in books
when there are rows or hostil-ity in my family. I am who I am
today because of education.
Third, it is the belief that I can
do better. I am never satisfied
with what I do or achieve. I look
for ways to improve myself,and improve myself I do. Fi-
nally, it is the fear of failing and
the hard work to make it nothappen that makes me come
this far. I know there are many
of you whose life story is not sodifferent from mine. You mightbe frustrated at times, but I
hope you will never give up. I
hope you turn your problems
into your objectives or goals
and before long, as long as you
keep trying and are hopeful,success will be yours. Never let
anything obstruct you in your
quest for success and YOU
WILL BE THERE.
Education ...
IFL PROSPECT
7/31/2019 The Ifl Prospect Vol2 Issue1 Oct 2009-Jan 2010
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STUDENT CORNER
In the second semester of the2008-2009 academic year,
IFLs English Department organ-
ized a competition for research
projects by its third-year stu-
dents. Five research reports
were selected by the committee
as the winners in the competi-
tion. The following is the sum-
mary of a winning report.
Many students can enhancetheir knowledge by going to a
library which houses many
useful resources and different
kinds of materials that help
them in their learning. The IFL
library, more commonly knownas Self-Access Center (SAC), is
of no exception. With many
benefits it can offer, SAC at-
tracts many students every day.
At the same time, SAC allegedly
fails to meet some of the stu-dents needs.
To obtain evidence for the
effectiveness of SAC, a study
has been conducted to clarify
four important aspects about
SAC: Frequency of visiting SAC,SAC policies, Students satisfac-
tion toward SAC and Possible
improvement of SAC.
With questionnaires as its
main instrument, this research
is mainly quantitative in nature.The data was collected from a
sample of 160 IFL English-
major students equally selectedfrom all shifts and year levels.
The questionnaire has 5 sec-
tions and 36 questions, the lastof which is for the respondents
to share their comments freely
about SAC. It took around 10
minutes to complete a ques-
tionnaire. To analyze the data,
we used two applications: Sta-
tistical Package for the SocialSciences (SPSS) Version 12 and
Microsoft Excel 2007. Fre-
quency count, descriptive sta-
tistics, cross tabulation, andmultiple response analysis
were done in SPSS, while
graphs were created in Micro-soft Excel.
For frequency of visiting
SAC and related issues, it wasfound that the third- and fourth
-year students reportedly visit
SAC the most. Saturday is the
favorite day for most of thestudents, and they usually come
between 8:30 and 11 am. For
book borrowing, it is surprising
that 90.6% of the respondents
like reading books, but only
2.5% borrow SAC books. One of
the reasons many participantsstated was that many books
they want to borrow are NOT
FOR LOAN. SAC should make
copies of such books and make
them available FOR LOAN.
Meanwhile, as expected, thefindings showed that self-study
is an influential factor. This
means that most IFL students
visit SAC out of their willing-
ness, rather than being pres-
sured by their peers and lectur-ers. Besides self-study, comfort-able study conditions and rich
resources also inspire students
to come to SAC.
As for the second purpose,
the findings indicate a little
difference between satisfactionand dissatisfaction (50.6% the
former and 49.4% the latter)
among students towards SAC
working hours, which areweekdays and Saturday morn-
ings with an exception of public
holidays. Those who were dis-
satisfied complained that they
do not have time to visit SACsince they study at two univer-sities. The only time that they
can come is during the lunchbreak and Saturday. Most of the
respondents requested that
SAC also open between 11 am
to 1 pm and on Saturday after-noons. Regarding the policy of
borrowing books, the dissatis-
faction of students rises to
70%. 73.2% of them suggest
that book borrowing duration
should be extended to 2 weeks.
For the third objective,space is the problem SAC
should be concerned about the
most. During its peak time,
some of the respondents re-
ported that they have to leave
SAC because there is no avail-able seat. Rated lower than
space, borrowing procedures
were thought to be slow and
complicated because students
have to fill in their names, ID
number, title of the book, andauthors name in the librarycard. With regard to searching
for books through the computer
system in SAC, most of the re-
spondents claimed that search-
ing is not effective and they
cannot locate the needed mate-rials. Some entries list basic
book information such as title,
ISBN, and year of publication
but many do not. Despite thedissatisfaction with the above
aspects, most students were in
Students Satisfaction towards SAC
Volume 2, Issue 1 (October 2009 - January 2010)
A Lecture
A Math Professor
To keep the body in good healthis a duty otherwise we shall notbe able to keep the mind strong
and clear.The Buddha
The true art of memory is the art
of attention.Samuel Johnson
You don't have to burn books todestroy a culture. Just get people
to stop reading them.Ray
Bradbury
The person who seeks an educa-tion must involve himself in dis-covering the meaning of his ownlife and the relation between whohe is and what he might become.
Without the vision of a personalfuture and a hard look at thereality of ones own situation, theultimate purpose of educationitselfthat is, to grow, to change,to liberate himselfis almost im-
possible to achieve.Harold
Taylor
7/31/2019 The Ifl Prospect Vol2 Issue1 Oct 2009-Jan 2010
6/8
touched the footbrake and
brought the car to a stop besidehim. I always stopped for hitch-
hikers. I knew just how it used to
feel to be standing on the side of
a country road watching the
cars go by. I hated the drivers
for pretending they didnt see
me, especially the ones in big
cars with three empty seats. The
large expensive cars seldom
stopped. It was always the
smaller ones that offered you a
lift, or the old rusty ones, or the
ones that were already
crammed full of children and the
driver would say, I think we can
squeeze in one more.
The hitchhiker poked his head
through the open window and
said, Going to London, guvnor?
Yes, I said. Jump in. He got in
and I drove on.
He was a small ratty-faced
man with grey teeth. His eyes
were dark and quick and clever,like a rats eyes, and his ears
were slightly pointed at the top.
He had a cloth cap on his head
and he was wearing a grayish-
colored jacket with enormous
pockets. The grey jacket, to-
gether with the quick eyes andthe pointed ears, made him look
more than anything like some
sort of huge human rat.
The questions are:Question 1: Where did the
driver go?
Question 2: Why do you
think the hitchhiker asked for a
lift?
Question 3: Describe thehitch-hiker appearance. Basedon your description, what can
you tell about the hitchhikerscharacter and job?
When responding to these
questions, you will find that
each question requires differ-ent levels of thinking and differ-
ent types of coverage. To an-
swer Question 1, only factual
information, which is obviously
stated in the text, is needed. For
Question 2, you need to com-bine your understanding of thetext with your world knowl-
edge of hitchhiking. For ques-tion 3, it is necessary to draw
on the clues provided in the
text in order to evaluate the
hitch-hikers character and job.
You need to read the descrip-
tions of the hitchhiker critically
and make comparisons where
needed. For instance, ask your-
self why the hitchhiker is com-
pared to a rat, why the author
chose the grey color to describehim, and what you can conclude
from these descriptions.
Not found your happiness
yet? Let go of your frustration.
We are just half way. More
guidelines are coming in thenext issue.
References
Collie, J. & Slater, S. (1999). Literature in
the language classroom: A resource book
of ideas and activities. Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press.
Roberts, E. V. (2003). Writing about
literature (10th ed.). New Jersey: Pear-
son Education.
STUDY SKILLS
The MA in TESOL (Master of Arts in Teach-
ing English to Speakers of Other Lan-guages) Program at the Institute of For-
eign Languages accepts applicationsevery June and December.
This program is designed for teachers,
curriculum developers and educationconsultants who wish to gain a higherdegree and professionalism in a range of
areas such as teaching English language,language program administration, bilin-
gual education and applied language
study. Some of the courses are taught byinternational experts and visiting pro-
fessors.
Contact us now at
Russian Federation Boulevard
Tel: (855-23) 885 419
IFL PROSPECT
In Pursuit ...
Semester II Calendar for
IFLs English Department
February 08, 2010: Start of Year 4 BEd program
(Morning & Afternoon)
February 22, 2010: Start of Years 2-3 & Year 4
(Evening) programs
February 22 - : Year 4 BEd High School
April 03, 2010 Practicum
March 01, 2010 : Start of MA Program
March 15, 2010 : Start of Year 1 program
April 19, 2010 : Start of BC Program
May 04 - : Year 4 BEd IFL Practicum
June 11, 2010
May 8, 2010 : Clean-up Day
May 22, 2010 : 7th Debate Forum
BAin
ISP
The International Studies Program at the
Institute of Foreign Languages is a prestig-
ious program designed for those who wish
to be equipped with theories, knowledge,
and skills to understand critical world
issues and development.
The Program (1) provides a wide range of
courses related to international relations,
politics, development, and economics; (2)
enhances students critical and analytical
thinking and independent learning; (3)guides students to understand how public
and private organizations work and func-
tion; and does much more.Be one of our students by submitting your
application and taking the entrance exam
in September 2010.
Contact us now at
(855-23) 885-419
7/31/2019 The Ifl Prospect Vol2 Issue1 Oct 2009-Jan 2010
7/8
STUDENT CORNER
here, murmured Pisey with
weariness, But I think afterthis I will not be okay unless we
move back to the city.
Alright, we will go back assoon as you recover, Pitou said
sympathetically, accepting
Piseys request.
After having a small talk
with his wife, Pitou turned back
to the midwife who had justsaved his wife, the triplets, and
perhaps himself from regret. He
thanked her for her service and
then gave her some money as aquid pro quo. The midwife ac-
cepted the money and warned
Pitou off being careless aboutthe danger of his wife.
One week later, Pisey recov-
ered well and regained her
strength. Pitou had not gone to
the forest to find more herbs
but had stayed at home fulfill-ing his husbandly duty, taking
care of his wife and children.
Honey, your stamina has
come back now. We can leave
for Phnom Penh tomorrow,
Pitou suggested to Pisey whowas gazing at their triplessleeping.
Yes, sweetheart. Ill go topack our belongings now, re-
plied Pisey walking towards the
big black leather luggage she
had put under her bed.The next morning, at dawn,
Pitou and his family took a 24-
seat van to Phnom Penh. Along
the way, Pitou never took his
eyes off of Pisey and his chil-
dren. At dusk, reaching the sta-
tion, Pitou and his family took acab to their residence located
just outside Phnom Penh.
Pitou, Pisey and their trip-
lets were warmly welcomed by
their relatives who had already
known about their arrivalthrough a call from Pitou. Back
at home, the triplets were well
taken care of by Pitous parents
and relatives.
Two days later Pitou feeling
that his family was secure nowtook the herbs he had collectedto his lab to do experiments.
In his lab, he took different
types of herbs out of his bag
and examined them one by onecarefully. Being implacable inhis search for a cure of a new
malady, Pitou first took outMullein, a tiny dried leaf known
to heal lung congestion and the
lemon balm for anti-viral treat-
ment. He then took the violetplant he had collected from the
forest the afternoon the triplets
were born. Next he added sev-
eral other herbs and mixed
them together. To his amaze-
ment, the mix was magic. Two
weeks later, in a paroxysm ofexcitement, Pitou received a
call from the lab that his experi-
ment made history. He had
found the treatment for AH1N1.
Pitous discovery made him
one of the richest men in theworld and allowed his family to
enjoy a completely different
lifestyle he had been longing
for. Pitou realizing that his
three children brought him no
burden but unbelievable luckfinally said There is no lucklike luck brought by triplets!
Triplets of luck ...
Volume 2, Issue 1 (October 2009 - January 2010)
favor of the SAC environment,
which includes a good lighting
system, air conditioner, nu-merous tables and comfort-
able chairs. These conditions
make SAC a favorable place for
study. Additionally, librarians
are helpful and available
whenever students need their
help with finding resources.The last objective of this
research is to improve the
quality of SAC. To answer to
this objective, instead of pro-viding questions with fixed
answers, the questionnaireasks respondents to write
whatever aspect of SAC they
want to improve. There are
complaints about lack of
books and movies. They sug-
gest that SAC add more gen-eral knowledge books andmovies that are related to
their courses in order that
they can use those resources
to accelerate their study. In-
terestingly, while the respon-dents were full of requests,three fourths of them were
negative about the idea of a
higher membership fee. Over
half of them are willing to pay
only 4000 Riels and below,which is the current fee, for a
one-year membership.
Even with our greatesteffort, this research and its
findings are limited and far
from being perfect. Some ofthe difficulties we faced in-
cluded inaccessibility to the
sample, lost questionnaires,unwilling participants, and
software problems. At the
same time, the sample size is
too small in comparison tothousands of IFL students.
However, we hope that our
research has contributed some
knowledge to students, SAC,and IFL as a whole and paves
the way for further studies.
IFLs Recent ActivitiesAs Busy As Always
Students
Satisfaction ...
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