Effect of English Ability on Income in Siem Reap, Cambodia Frontline Tourism Employees

Abstract

In the past decades, researchers have discovered that general education and
socioeconomic aspects like home-life, marriage, location of birth, age of arrival into a developed
country (in the case of immigrants), and the like have influenced income in tourism and other
industries. Research into English language education and proficiency and its role in developing
frontline tourism income has been lacking. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of
English ability on income through regression analysis using survey results by the author and
research team in 2012 in Siem Reap (SR) tourist industry (TI). Results found positive
associations between English ability level, years of English education, hours of English
education, and total years of schooling although direct effect on income was low.