Western University Kampong Cham

CONTENTS
Acknowledgement...................................................1

Background of Western University.......................2

Introduction.............................................................6

Observation

1. Chhoem Raksmey.................................................10

2. Soeun Laklen........................................................13

3. Ly Srey Thi...........................................................13

4. Man Lida...............................................................15

5. Mey Chetra............................................................17

6. Sen Sochettra........................................................19

7. Kean Pheany.........................................................21

Conclusion...............................................................23

Recommendation....................................................25

Page 1
Western University Kampong Cham

Acknowledgement

This written journal is sincerely born to be grateful to the following:

- H.E. Te Laurent, the founder of Western University for constructing the wonderful
university to contribute all of the students to become the knowledgeable human
resources for the society.

- Mr. Hok Thavuth, the vice-rector at Western University in Kampong Cham Branch

- Mr. Hull Piseth, the lecturer of “Applied Linguistics”

- Mr. Ly Phyrith, the lecturer of “ Teaching Methodology”

- Mr. Ouk Khamdy, the lecturer of “Foundation of Education”

- Mrs. Tum Sisopheareth, the observer of my practicum

- My taught students and other fellow teacher trainees for observing my teaching
practicum

Specifically, I would like to express my deep gratitude to all lecturers for their effort
and time to construct, guide, and share their knowledge and experiences to me from
the beginning to the end of this university graduation.

Page 2
Western University Kampong Cham

Background of Western University

Education is the main factor for the development of the human resources and
the prosperity of the countries. Many people allow their children to go to schools and
universities to get the knowledge, skill and attitude because they believe that
education will help them to become the potential and knowledgeable people in the
society. As people realize more about the benefits of education as well as the growth
of the schools and universities, they always try to find the best ones for their children.
We can see that the education in Cambodia has been improved if we compare to the
past due to the effort of the Ministry of Education Youth and Sport to reform the
education system, teaching curriculum, examination, and other competitions to foster
the quality of education in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
We want to ensure that all the children can access to the education equally, equitably,
and inclusively. As a part of that goal to improve the education quality in Cambodia,
His Excellency Te Laurent also constructed the potential university in Cambodia to
strengthen the tertiary education for the students who just finish their high school.
Here is the background of Western University.

Founded in 2003, Western University is a private higher education university

located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Currently, there are three different locations of
Western University. The main campus is at Toul Kork, Phnom Penh and the second
one is at Toul Svay Prey in Chamkar Morn ,Phnom Penh. The last one is located in
Veal Vong, Kampong Cham which was approved by the Ministry of Education Youth
and Sport (MoEYS) in 2005. The objective of Western University is to provide high
knowledge to the students from different sources and to educate them to be confident
and capable persons in increasing their own living standard. The mission is providing
the best educational services for students based on practical research and prudent
pedagogy and give the possibility to university staff in improving their education &

Page 3
Western University Kampong Cham

management capacity to further expand their future career. The University goal is to
provide a broad education in the context that supports the identification, talent and
innovative activities related to real work places and in business development
activities. Also it tends to encourage students to be excellent entrepreneurs in the
future. Students will be able to have a good writing and oral communication skills in
English, and they can also become specialized in their skills. Western University
expected to reach the goals as follow:

 Provide qualified knowledge and training.

 Provide an effective curriculum.

 Provide a good research that related to education.

 Enhance the norm and educational quality to be accepted with national and
international quality.

 Western University gives the students good study environment, resources and
study materials.

 Provides Business Skills for students and allows them to have a practicum.

 Finding jobs for students and graduated students.

With the motto “Where Quality Come First!”, the university has offered
courses and programs leading to officially recognized higher education degrees in
several areas of study for both undergraduate and post graduate such as Arts &
Humanities, Business & Social Sciences, Language & Cultural, Medicine & Health,
Engineering, Science & Technology. And regarding to its objective, mission and
goals, it has been producing the qualified graduates who will be able to deal with the
challenges they face in the future. This means that they are equipped with the right
knowledge and skills to compete in the real world and labor market in the present as

Page 4
Western University Kampong Cham

well as in the near future especially they are able to establish and maintain good
interpersonal relationship in the society. Interestingly, the university has been trying to
provide the knowledge and know-how to its students to become creative and
independent thinkers who are capable of doing research which is necessary for this
modern technology world.

In conclusion, Western University is the the private institution which provides

the potential lecturing to help all the high school graduates, undergraduates, and post
graduates by building their knowledge, skills and attitude to suit with the current
society. Western University os one among the others recently found qualified with its
motto “Where Quality Comes First!”.

Page 5
Western University Kampong Cham

Introduction

Firstly, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Bun Leakhena, and I am

a teacher of English and also a student at Western University at the weekend. Lately, I
have been teaching English for 2 years at both public and private schools in Kampong
Cham province. Actually I have been learning only 2 years at Western University
from Year 3 to Year 4 in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Languages majoring in
Teaching English as Foreign Language (TEFL).

During two years of learning at the university, I have obtained new

knowledge, skills, and experiences because I have been learning with qualified and
potential lectures, comfortable classrooms and many knowledgeable classmates. In
my junior year, I got to know new people and lecturers at the university for the first
time. I tried my best to study and did the assignment or homework by turning in on
time. I learn to do the work individually and in teams. From working alone, I became
an independent and hard-working person. Whenever I had questions about anything, I
usually asked my lecturers and classmates to explain me. I was not so courageous in
the first place. Yet as I got to know the lecturers and classmates well, I thought that I
was more opened and braver. When I did the assignment with my team, I usually led
them on the assigned work. From leading my teammate, I learned that working as a
team requires effective communication and problem-solving skills. I am satisfied to
work with others who have different knowledge and experiences because I believe I
will become a critical thinker when I try to listen to different opinions from other
people.

In the final year, my confidence has been increased due to my great

achievement in the previous year. I am a hard-working student who would always do
more researches and learn by myself at home. I gained a good grade in the class and
that is how I committed to maintain in the senior year. I am really grateful that I joint

Page 6
Western University Kampong Cham

English Speaking Contest conducted by Western University from February 9 to

March 7, 2020. From that involvement, I always tried to develop my ability as I can.

At the end of the year, the university board arranged the practicum for all the
students to practice the teaching methods, techniques, theories in the real class. It
lasted from December 01 to February 01, 2020 and it is also the university
requirement to complete the academic year. I had to do my practicum for only one
session on December 13, 2020 and it was done online due to Covid-19 pandemic. It
was not easy to teach online, but I really tried hard to teach.

Honestly, I would like to show my deepest gratitude to Mrs. Tum

Sisopheareth. She was not only my observer but also my adviser. Before teaching
practicum, she let me choose the lesson I wanted to teach then she checked my lesson
plan and gave me her idea about it and how I could make it better. She supported and
motivated me so much to do the practicum. And at the end of the teaching, she
provided me feedback and told me how I could improve my teaching performance
next time. Moreover, I would like to express my deepest respect and gratitude to Mr.
Hull Piseth, Dean of English Department of Western University. I would like to state
again that my practicum journal would not be satisfactorily accomplished without the
generous and helpful contribution and invaluable comments from the people
mentioned above. Especially, I would like to say thank you so much to all the
lecturers who have been part of my achievement and graduation at Western
University.

To sum up, being a teacher is not an easy task, but I commit that I would
improve my ability and keep learning in my whole life to be a helpful and potential
teacher who could help and educate the future generation of Cambodia especially the
future leaders. In this practicum journal, I hope that it would be useful for other
students who need it as a guidance for their practicum journal writing.

Page 7
Teacher: Chhoem Raksmey Date: 13 Dec 2020
Topic: Dealing with customer Class: E1-01
Time: 7:30-9:00 am

Chhoem Raksmey

On Sunday morning, I observed Miss Chhoem Raksmey. She is a primary

school teacher. She taught Business & Economic Class at the weekend. And the skill
she taught was listening skill. Firstly, she greeted the students and introduced herself.
She was so confident and enthusiastic during her teaching. She gave instruction and
explained the students mostly in English. Her presentation slide was attractive because
it was well-designed and bright.

To warm the students up, she introduced a game called “Bingo”. She told
them how to play it by giving examples. In this game, she provided words related to
fruits and let the students choose five words to write in their notebooks. And before
she played it with the students, she also taught them the pronunciation of the words. If
the students heard the words she called, they should cross out the words they had and
wrote in their notebooks. And if they could cross out all the five words, they should
shout “Bingo”. I think the game encouraged the students to involve so much in the
class because they told the teacher that they had it every time she called each word.

In set the scene, she showed a picture to elicit new title. And she also asked
about that picture to let students guess what they were going to study. Before listening,
she introduced and taught some vocabulary. I noticed that she did very well on pre-
teaching the vocabulary by eliciting the words and using T3CI technique.

In her teaching, she let the students listen to the recording which was very
important for the activities she set in her lesson plan. And she always checked the
students’ understanding of what she wanted them to do. And she also chose the lesson
that the students already had the existing knowledge about the topic. This helped the
students to engage more in the teaching and learning procedure. However, I think there

Page 8
Western University Kampong Cham

are some points to consider. She should give clear instruction by making it short, clear
and easy which would help the students who are poor in English understand what she
wants them to do. Also it is very crucial to give a model to the students because it
would make the student certain about what they are going to do. One more thing is
that she should play the recording for at least three times not only one time even
though some students can get the answers.

In conclusion, I believe that she is a potential and determined teacher. She

shows her devotion and effort to teach and explain the students. And she is very clear
about her lesson and lesson objectives. She knows how to teach vocabulary and ask
questions to let the students participate more in her teaching.

Page 9
Teacher: Soeun Laklen Date: 14 Dec 2020
Topic: A Sustainable Personality for the Job Class: B1-03
Time: 7:30-9:00 am

Soeun Laklen

On Monday morning, I observed Miss Soeun Laklen. She is a teacher of English at

the secondary school. She taught Business & Economic class on weekday, and she
taught reading skill. First of all, she greeted the students and introduced herself. She
was very friendly and enthusiastic about her teaching. She entirely used English in her
teaching.

In warmer, she showed the students a picture and got them to think about the
picture. It was a broken vase, and she asked the students how they would do if they
saw broken things in their house. Then some students gave their answers such as
fixing it, telling their parents or throwing it away. After that she taught some key
words for reading. She elicited six new words related to people’s personality. She
used different techniques to elicit the vocabulary well.

In set the scene, she asked the students to guess the title of lesson by looking
at the words they just learned. Before reading, she gave the students task by letting
them read the sentences and telling if they agreed or disagreed with the statements.
Furthermore, she also let the students listed down the things that make a good
salesperson. She always checked students’ understanding by asking what they have to
do and how to do it. In the main reading stage, she had the students read the text
quickly and answer the questions. Another task was that the students needed to read
the text again and wrote True or False to the sentences.

Actually there are some points for her to consider. When she taught the
words, she should check the pronunciation of the words carefully. The students will
repeat and read the words wrong if she doesn’t pronounce it correctly. One more thing
that she should think is the English level of the students. She should use scaffolding

Page 10
Teacher: Soeun Laklen Date: 14 Dec 2020
Topic: A Sustainable Personality for the Job Class: B1-03
Time: 7:30-9:00 am

more in order to help them learn because if she speaks English all the time, it will be
hard for the students to understand. The techniques that she could use are translating,
giving model and give brief explanation or summary of the text.

In brief, she will be a good teacher of English since she always wants the
students to improve their English by exposing and communicating in English. And
she would use many techniques in order to help the students to learn English.

Page 11
Teacher: Ly Srey Thi Date: 15 Dec 2020
Topic: Causes of Flood Class: C2-03
Time: 2:00-3:30 pm

Ly Srey Thi

On Tuesday afternoon, I observed Miss Ly Srey Thi. She is a teacher of

English at a private school. She taught Business & Economic class on the weekday ,
and she chose reading skill to teach them. Firstly, she greeted and introduced herself.
In her teaching, she was so confident and well-organized in her teaching and lesson
plan. I noticed that her classroom management was good, and she engaged the
students in her teaching well by calling their names and encouraging them to answer
her questions and do the tasks.

In the beginning, she introduced a game called “Compound Noun” which let
the students look at two pictures and guess the words then make into one compound
noun. In order to play the game, she gave them instruction and example. And some
students guessed it and told the compound nouns. It was an interesting game and
helped the students to think more. In set the scene, she elicited the lesson and title by
showing a picture of flood. She asked the students about the picture and aroused
students’ existing knowledge about it. Before reading, she taught some useful
vocabulary for the text. She explained the words very well. And she also asked them
three questions related to the topic about the flood.

Then in the main reading, she had the students read the text by themselves
quickly and answered the questions. She gave examples and checked the students’
understanding of the tasks given. More importantly, she introduced some tips for
answering the questions and she also used some provoking questions to urge the
students to answer the questions.

Anyway, there are some points she should consider. In teaching the
vocabulary, she should use the T3CI technique. About reading the text, she should at

Page 12
Teacher: Ly Srey Thi Date: 15 Dec 2020
Topic: Causes of Flood Class: C2-03
Time: 2:00-3:30 pm
least read for the students one time after the students read it or ask them about the
text. It is comprehensive check with the students. Moreover, when she gave the tips
for answering the questions, she should at least provide one real example from the
text or question. Another thing is that, she should let the students read the questions
and see whether they understand it or not.

In conclusion, she is an energetic and well-prepared teacher. She has great

understanding about her lesson. Her teaching lets most of the students participate in
the learning well. I hope that she will improve her teaching skill and performance
more in the future because I can see that she is a potential and helpful teacher who
would try her best to teach her students.

Page 13
Teacher: Man Lida Date: 17 Dec 2020
Topic: Relative Clause Class: C1-03
Time: 7:30-9:00 pm

Man Lida

On Wednesday morning, I observed Miss Man Lida. She is a teacher of

English at a secondary school. She taught English class on the weekday, and she
taught Relative Clause for her session. In the beginning, she greeted and introduced
herself. As I observed her teaching, she was a modest and well-prepared teacher. She
always explained the lesson in a soft and gentle way to the students. She was a little
bit nervous and shy at first, but she was more confident as the lesson was moving.

For warmer, she played a game called “Guessing Compound Nouns”. The
pictures and slide were well-designed and attractive. The students engaged well in
this warmer by guessing the words and making it into the compound noun.

Before teaching the grammar, she let the students do a task which was
matching the definition of the words. And after that, she introduced a passage which
was her target language. The text contained the relative clause that she was about to
teach. It was a very good introduction that she let the students see it first from the text
before she taught it. Then she asked students if they can find the relative clauses in
the text.

In the presentation stage, she taught the relative clauses by giving the
meaning of the relative clause and how to use each relative pronoun in the relative
clause. Moreover, she also explained the two different kinds of relative clauses
precisely and accurately. She also illustrated the meanings and the differences
between the two relative clauses.

In the practice stage, she let the students do the two exercises by practicing
what they have just learned. In that stage, the students did it well, and they also asked
the questions more about what they didn’t understand.

Page 14
Teacher: Man Lida Date: 17 Dec 2020
Topic: Relative Clause Class: C1-03
Time: 7:30-9:00 pm

However, there are some points to consider for her teaching. She shouldn’t
introduce too much in the presentation stage, but she should introduced only one or
two which is enough. She should spend more time on practice and production.
Furthermore, she should let the students produce the language that they have already
learned. Another thing, she should check the students’ comprehension, concept and
understanding. Lastly, she should use intonation and pitch in her teaching to make the
lesson interesting and enjoyable.

To sum up, she is a very knowledgeable and potential teacher. She showed
me that she has a deep understanding of her lesson. She obviously prepared the
lesson plan well as I can see the lesson on her slide presentation. I believe that she
would improve her teaching method and performance due to her commitment to be a
helpful and well-prepared teacher.

Page 15
Teacher: Mey Chetra Date: 17 Dec 2020
Topic: Past Perfect Simple Class: C1-03
Time: 10:45-12:15 pm

Mey Chetra

On Wednesday morning, I observed Miss Mey Chetra. She is a teacher of

English at a private school. She taught the English class during the weekday, and she
taught Past Perfect Simple. In the beginning, she greeted the students and introduced
herself. She was enthusiastic and well-prepared in her teaching. As I observed her,
she was very confident in herself since she always raised her voice and intonation
when she spoke.

In warmer, she played a game called “ Find the differences”. In this game,
she asked the students to spot the difference between the two pictures given. And in
this activity, I noticed that she let the students use the pen in the zoom to circle it. It
was a technique she used to let the students be interactive with the game. One more
thing, she was good at checking the students’ understanding after she let the students
do something.

In pre-teaching, she elicited the vocabulary by showing them the pictures.

She also gave the definitions of the words clearly. More importantly, she usually
asked provoking questions to give chance for the students to think and answer the
questions. In set the scene, she showed a picture to the students and asked about it.

In the presentation stage, she introduced the dialogue and let them read it.
Then she checked their understanding of the text by asking them the questions. Next
she highlighted the new target item from the text by letting the students find the
sentences in past perfect simple tense.

In teaching the grammar, she used the inductive grammar. She taught from
the real examples to the general rule of the tense. Especially in her lesson plan, she
followed the steps of the PPP lesson plan really well which means she was very

Page 16
Teacher: Mey Chetra Date: 17 Dec 2020
Topic: Past Perfect Simple Class: C1-03
Time: 10:45-12:15 pm

capable and well-organized. Furthermore, she had the students practice more to make
sure they understand what they have just learned. She focused on guided and less-
guided practice. It was very helpful for the students to apply what they learn into
practicing.

However, there are a few points she needs to consider. In the PPP lesson, she
only has presentation and practice. She should include the production in her teaching
which let the students produce something besides practicing the language they have
learned. And she should allow more time for the students to practice according to the
level of difficulties of the tasks.

To sum up, I am sure to say that she is a very talented and committed teacher.
She is not only knowledgeable but also skillful in her teaching. In the future, she
would become a good teacher for her students and help them to learn English more
effectively.

Page 17
Teacher: Sen Sochettra Date: 26 Dec 2020
Topic: Descriptive Essays Class: C1-03
Time: 2:00-3:30 pm

Sen Sochettra

On Saturday afternoon, I observed Mr. Sen Sochettra. He is a teacher of

English at a public school. He taught the weekend English class, and he taught
writing skill- Descriptive Essays. Firstly, he greeted the students and introduced
himself. He was so confident in his teaching even though he got some health
problems. He was persistent to teach and explain the lesson to the students.

In warmer, he played the game called “Letter String Dictation”. The game
was a bit challenging for the students because it required more thinking. They should
make the sentences from the letter strings given. He checked after he gave the
instruction whether they understood what they were going to do.

In set the scene, he drew the students’ attention to the new lesson by asking
them some questions. And then he let the students guess what they were going to
learn. Before writing, he also introduced some new words by showing the pictures to
the students and let them guess the words in English. The pictures were attractive
and nice. Then he drilled the pronunciation of the vocabulary.

In the main writing, he asked the students to read the essay on the slide then
checked their understanding. After that he let the students see the general sentences
and the sentences with specific details. He illustrated the differences between the
two sentences and how to add more details to the sentences. Moreover, he gave the
students some general sentences and let them add more details to the sentences.

Furthermore, he also taught Similes and Simile Structures. He gave the

forms of the simile and examples. He explained it very well by stating the key words
the students can use to make similes.

Page 18
Teacher: Sen Sochettra Date: 26 Dec 2020
Topic: Descriptive Essays Class: C1-03
Time: 2:00-3:30 pm

In post-writing, he let the students write the similes in the books by giving
them the words to compare. The students can do it by comparing the words and
make it into the sentence by themselves.

Anyway, there are some points to consider. Since the game was a bit hard
and long, it took more time on the warmer. He should choose another game which
lets the students spend less time on doing it. And in teaching the vocabulary, he
should use T3CI technique. He should do the comprehensive check after the students
read the text. Besides he should give clear instruction to the students and check if
they understand it or not. Finally, he should not introduced too many new target
items which might confuse the students.

In conclusion, he is a potential and determined teacher to help the students

learn. He helped the students by giving examples and explained more if the students
had questions about the lesson. In the future, he will improve his teaching ability
more and teach his students more effectively.

Page 19
Teacher: Kean Pheany Date: 26 Dec 2020
Topic: Be used to/Get used to Class: C1-03
Time: 3:45-5:00 pm

Kean Pheany

On Saturday afternoon, I observed Miss Kean Pheany. She is a teacher of

English at a public school. She taught weekend English class, and she taught Be
used to/Get used to. In the beginning, she greeted the students and introduced
herself. She was a bit nervous in the beginning, but she was more confident as the
process continued.

In the warmer, she introduced a game called “Spelling for Fun”. She gave
the students the instruction and examples. The game was interesting and easy to
understand, so the students engaged well in this activity. In set the scene, she asked
some questions to the students relating to the grammar she was about to teach. After
the students answered the questions, she let the students guess the title of the lesson.

Before teaching grammar, she taught some words by showing them the
pictures and letting them guess the words in English. The students also involved well
in this stage. And she also drilled the words by using the T3CI technique which was
very good for teaching the pronunciation.

Next she introduced new language by getting the students read the dialogue
given. After they finished reading, she asked them some questions to see whether
they understood it or not.

In the presentation stage, she highlighted the target item, and she also used
the inductive teaching grammar. She got the examples from the text, and she
introduced it to the students. She explained and gave the rules and forms of the new
target items well. In order to let students apply the rules they have learned, she let
them practice it in the exercises. She gave the time to the students and checked the

Page 20
Teacher: Kean Pheany Date: 26 Dec 2020
Topic: Be used to/Get used to Class: C1-03
Time: 3:45-5:00 pm
answers with the students. And besides practice, she also let the students produce the
language. She had the students make their own sentences by using be used to/get
used to.

By the way, she has some points to consider to improve more next time. She
should check the students’ concept and understanding before letting them do the
exercises. One more thing, she should prepare and expect the questions that relate to
the lessons the students might ask. In her teaching, the students had questions similar
to the grammar they learned, but she was not able to answer it. Next time she should
predict and get ready for the questions.

In brief, she is a hard-working and helpful teacher because she tries her best
to answer the students’ questions even though it was very hard for her. In the future,
she would become a better and well-prepared teacher because she is willing to
change her teaching technique and skills.

Page 21
Western University Kampong Cham

Conclusion

After doing the practicum and observation, I found that teaching adults is
very hard especially teaching online. It requires technology skill and good time-
management. And teaching is not only telling or instructing the students. The
teacher needs to use many techniques to make the lesson interesting and get the
students engaged well in the class. I learned that in order to teach the students well,
I myself need to be absolutely clear about my lesson and lesson objectives.

Apart from teaching, teacher should understand how to make a good lesson
plan that he/she needs to teach. Teacher is not only the instructor but obviously the
facilitator in students’ learning. Moreover, timing and giving clear instruction are
very important in teaching. The teacher should motivate and ask the provoking
questions to order to arouse the students’ curiosity.

Page 22
Western University Kampong Cham

Recommendation

After I have done my practicum, I found that teaching is not easy mainly
teaching online. I faced some difficulties and also found solutions in my teaching as
well as observing others. Though we taught different classes and number of
students we might have similar problems. Here I would like to share some
experiences and ideas about teaching.

First of all, teaching online is a challenge. Everyone was so hesitant and

worried to do the practicum in the first place. Using the technology is not so easy
especially it was the first time to use it. The Internet didn’t work well, and Zoom
was not good since it always ended every 40 minutes. It was really interrupting and
annoying. Time is very important in teaching. If we can not manage it, the teaching
will not go smoothly as we plan. Because of this problem, I thought it wasted a lot
of time in my teaching, so I recommend that every teacher should practice using it
first before actual teaching and set the time clearly for every activity.

Secondly, the students didn’t involve well in the class. When the teacher
called the students to answer the questions, they sometimes remained silent. This
factor affected hugely on the teaching and learning process. If the students don’t
participate, it might not let the teacher achieve their teaching objectives. We taught
different classes, and that definitely means different levels and types of students.
Teaching in the classes which majors are not English is a little bit difficult. For this
problem, I think the teachers should choose the lessons which are suitable for the
students’ levels and predict for the things that the students will find difficult and can
not achieve it. We should use scaffolding more in our teaching. Try to help the
students as much as possible by giving examples, monitoring, motivating, and
simplifying the lessons. The students who don’t understand much English can also
learn when we as the teachers do like this. And in teaching the students, we should

Page 23
Western University Kampong Cham

try to use the students’ names as much as possible because it lets the students feel
close to us.

To sum up, teachers should always be ready for the problems we face in
teaching. And we should find the solutions to those problems to help us improve our
teaching skills and techniques more next time. Teachers are not perfect. We might
miss some points in our teaching, but we must be willing to accept the feedback for
both the good points and the points we need to improve.

Page 24