Abstract
In Cambodian higher education, STEM is largely learned through English. Textbooks, journal articles, software documentation, laboratory manuals and online courses are mostly in English, yet most students arrive at university without the English of their own field. A student who cannot read a physics problem, a mathematical proof or a programming manual in English cannot fully learn the subject, however able they are. The gap is widest at rural universities, where lecturers who can teach both a STEM subject and its English are few. This case study examines Sangapac, a Cambodian online learning platform that used generative AI to develop English for STEM at national scale. The platform now offers ten field-specific English tracks: physics, mathematics, IT and computing, engineering, biology, chemistry, earth science, health science, data science, and science and technology. Alongside them runs a Grade 7–12 STEM English ladder. Each lesson teaches the language through real content in the field, such as describing experiments, reading data, explaining phenomena and writing reports, with an AI tutor available at any time. We draw three lessons for Cambodian higher education. First, field-specific English proficiency multiplies the impact of STEM teaching: it opens global learning resources and research to students and lets lecturers teach at a higher level. Second, AI makes it possible to offer English for every STEM field, not only the largest, and to keep the materials current at low cost. Third, online, self-paced courses let rural universities offer them without a specialist lecturer. We propose a study with partner universities measuring students' field-specific English together with their STEM course results, to test the effect on learning outcomes and on preparing graduates for Vision 2050.
Keywords: English for Specific Purposes (ESP); STEM education; generative AI; educational technology; higher education
About the presenter
Join us at the Forum, 5–6 November 2026, Institute of Technology of Cambodia.
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