Challenges and Strategies in Teaching English at Primary Schools: Perspectives of Novice Teachers in Cambodia

Abstract

This study investigates the challenges novice Cambodian primary-school teachers face when teaching English and the strategies they use to manage those challenges. Guided by an interpretive phenomenological approach, the study prioritized teachers’ lived experiences and the meanings they attach to daily classroom realities. Twenty novice EFL teachers (≤5 years of experience) from urban and rural primary schools across northwest Cambodia participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews lasting approximately 30–60 minutes. Interviews were audio-recorded where permitted, transcribed, and analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis with inductive coding. Findings indicate that novice teachers encounter interconnected classroom-level, school-level, and systemic constraints. At classroom level, the most frequently reported difficulties were mixed-ability learners, weak foundations in speaking, pronunciation, and grammar (especially tenses), limited lesson time, and managing large classes. At school and system levels, teachers emphasized shortages of textbooks and teaching aids, limited technology, overcrowded spaces, minimal English exposure outside school, and pressure to complete the prescribed curriculum. Despite these constraints, teachers reported adaptive coping strategies, including pair and group work, low-resource communicative activities (games, stories, role-play), differentiated tasks for fast and slow learners, structured drilling and modeling, clear rules and routines, proximity and non-verbal management techniques, and motivational practices such as praise and songs. The study highlights a persistent policy–practice gap and underscores the need for practice-oriented pre-service preparation, structured induction and mentoring, and improved resourcing and realistic pacing to support communicative English teaching in Cambodian primary schools.