International connectivity and employability in Cambodian higher education: a case study of developing employability skills in English language education

ABSTRACT Building employability skills in Cambodia is emphasised in the development of higher education within the globalisation context. Given that English proficiency has increasingly become an important credential in the more internationalised Cambodian labour market, this paper examines the development and revision of an English language education programme at a renowned university in Phnom Penh to exemplify how an emphasis on employability skills development emerges with the global trends in curriculum in Cambodian higher education. It also discusses how revisions are made in response to the changing national context and how corresponding changes in pedagogical strategy appear at the institutional and classroom levels. This discussion documents and analyses the interplay between curriculum development and changes at global, national, and institutional levels in Cambodia – a fast-growing country that actively engages with globalisation and regionalisation.