The book provides a novel and comprehensive exploration of Cambodia’s evolving educational and linguistic landscape through the lens of language policy, national identity, and global influences. Taking a critical and multidimensional approach, it addresses not only the influence of historical events such as the Khmer Rouge era and the subsequent reconstruction efforts but also contemporary issues such as the role of English in global economic mobility, the integration of digital technologies, and the need for inclusivity in a multilingual society. The first section provides historical and contemporary perspectives on language and education policies, highlighting their roles in language and literacy development, standardization, nation building, national identity, social inclusion, and globalization. The second section discusses language and education policies within the contexts of PreK-12 education, addressing issues such as educational equity, curriculum development, bilingual and multilingual education, ESL and foreign/world language instruction, content and language integrated instruction, and translanguaging. The third and final section focuses on language and education policies in higher education, dealing with issues such as medium of instruction, the teaching of English and other foreign languages, technology and innovation, language teacher education, and professional development. By integrating these multidimensional themes, the book sheds light on the ways education systems, language policies, national identity, and globalization interact to create both opportunities and challenges for Cambodia's 21st-century development. Moreover, featuring insights from a number of rising multilingual Cambodian scholars, the book provides new perspectives grounded in their own lived personal and professional experiences. This book is a useful resource for researchers and graduate students of language policy and Asian, Southeast Asian, and Cambodian education. It is also intended for undergraduate and graduate students in Cambodia in language education teacher preparation programs.

Dr. Sovicheth Boun is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the TESOL Graduate Programs at Salem State University, Massachusetts, USA. He is a co-editor of the Handbook of Bilingual and Multilingual Education (Wright, Boun, & Garcia, 2015) and of the most recent volume titled English Education in Southeast Asian Contexts: Policy, Practice, and Identity (Boun & Chatwara, 2024). Boun is a recipient of the 2023 James E. Alatis Prize for Research in Language Policy and Planning in Educational Contexts.

Samarnh Pang is a doctoral candidate in Curriculum and Instruction, specializing in Literacy and Language Education, at Purdue University, Indiana, USA. His research focuses on English language teaching, language and education policy, teacher education, dialogic pedagogy, and artificial intelligence in education. He has more than 14 years of experience teaching in higher education and preparing pre-service teachers in Cambodia and the United States, including at the Royal University of Phnom Penh and Purdue University. Pang is also the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Contemporary Journal of English Language Teaching.

Dr. Wayne E. Wright is an Associate Dean and the Barbara I. Cook Chair of Literacy and Language at Purdue University, Indiana, USA. He is Co-Editor of the Journal of Language, Identity, and Education and Editor of the Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement. Wright is a former Fulbright and visiting scholar in Cambodia, and a recipient of the Charles A. Ferguson Outstanding Scholarship Award and James E. Alatis Prize for Research in Language Policy and Planning in Educational Contexts.