Ben Moore Language Institute, Thammasat University: Discovering The Language Needs of Hotel Workers in Thailand
Ben Moore Language Institute, Thammasat University: Discovering The Language Needs of Hotel Workers in Thailand
Ben Moore
Language Institute, Thammasat University
ABSTRACT
The following report aims to explore the language needs of a specific groups of
learners situated in a specific occupational context. Beginning with a back ground to
the broad and expanding area of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), the reader is given
an insight into the problems with traditional English classes for learners with particular
language needs. The language requirements of employees working in the hotel and
tourism industry are explored with relation to relevant literature in the field of English
for Occupational Purposes (EOP), and suggestions are made for effectively setting up a
curriculum of study. Finally, a number of issues are raised for any educators concerned
with teaching or organizing classes for students with specific purposes.
Keywords: Language learning, English proficiency, Thailand, Hotel workers, English for
Occupational Purposes, EOP
INTRODUCTION
The need for a common language particularly in the international, academic
and business communities has lead to the adoption of English as the present global
language (Crystal,1997:10). This is a rather recent phenomenon which has largely been
driven by the economic power of America and developments in technology since the
end of the Second World War (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987:6). As the demand for
English language learning increases the demand for different kinds of English to suit the
different needs of individual learners also increases. Business people working in
international markets, doctors who want to keep up with developments in their field,
students and people working in the tourism industry all require English for particular
functions. This has subsequently lead to the development of teaching English for
Specific Purposes (ESP) as a separate discipline and the use of specific methodologies
to suit a group of students specific needs (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998:19). It has
become more apparent that the general teaching of English is insufficient to suit the
needs of all language learners. Long (2007:1) states; “ A one size-fits all approach has
long been discredited by research findings on the specificity of the tasks, genres and
discourse practices that language learners encounter in the varied domain in which
they must operate” (Long, 2007:1). ESP has been traditionally divided into two main
areas: English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes
(EOP). Within these areas there is a growing demand for a course to meet the needs of
a very specific homogonous group of individuals, which is often relevant to only one
particular group or even company, for example an ESP program exclusively for
professionals working in the beer industry in Argentina (Orsi & Orsi, 2002).
In this paper I will investigate the language requirements of a particular group of
workers within the hotel and tourism industry in Thailand. Although there are
materials available in the area of English for Tourism Professionals (ETP), for example
Adamson (1989), it seems evident that; “the professional literature has not adequately
defined or addressed the topic of ESP in the tourism industry” (Magennis, 2002:57). I
aim to review the process of obtaining the needs of workers in a very specific context,
and to propose the steps that I would take to develop a program of study if I was
given the opportunity to do so. Although there is a hypothetical nature to this paper it
hopes to make implications for the teaching of ESP at the local level that should
benefit a wealth of teachers that are concerned about the needs of their learners.
CONTEXT
1. Tourism in Thailand
My interest in this area of EOP has arisen as a result of intensive travel within
South East Asia. According to my own observations many local people adopt English
as a way of doing business with visiting tourists. Tourism is now one of the largest
sectors of the Thai economy (Bindloss & Taylor, 2004:32) and as a way of generating an
income the use of spoken English has become invaluable to many people, not only
the educated elite, but local people from all sorts of backgrounds trying to make a
living from the influx of foreign travellers. The requirements for English varies greatly,
from perhaps a taxi driver just needing to understand directions, numbers and polite
greetings to business people involved in international markets and the linguistic
interactions these will entail.
The language abilities of Thai hospitality workers varies significantly within
hotels and guest houses and in my view constitutes a mixture of the demands for
English and the educational history of the workers. A small family run business renting
out bungalows on a quaint paradise island may only require one person who can
speak a basic level of English in order to succeed; indeed this may actually be part of
the charm for tourists! On the other hand, the staff at a large more luxurious hotel in
Bangkok will certainly need an English competence that will allow most of the staff to
be able to interact with foreign guests, in a polite and informative manner.
Nevertheless, I would argue that despite the differences in quality offered a greater
command of English and in particular hospitality English will enable the host’s greater
scope in making guests feel comfortable and welcome at their various establishments.
As Blue and Harun (2003:77) maintain; “in many parts of the world, the art of greeting,
soliciting information, thanking and bidding farewell requires some measure of
familiarization with the relevant English expressions before a person can serve
effectively as a receptionist, telephonist or in other guest-contact capacities.”
2. Local Context
The hotel I will consider in this paper is a small, averaged priced hotel in a
popular tourist resort in Thailand, which prides itself on providing the atmosphere and
the attitude of a luxury hotel with a much more reasonable price tag. There are 26
rooms and 16 members of staff involved in the running of the hotel all with different
positions and perhaps slightly different language requirements. On the whole, the
front of house staff have studied a general English course, but there has not been any
specific course for hospitality purposes. Any additional language requirements are
learnt in house, which may mean that certain circumstances may challenge the
concept of an “atmosphere and attitude of a luxury hotel” as linguistic requirements
may be lacking especially for new workers. Those members of staff that do not work
at the front of the hotel, for example the cleaners, tend to be at a very low level,
although they may only need a very limited level of English. For instance, Jasso-
Aguilar (1999:45) found in her study on Waikiki hotel maids that; “the language
necessary for the current tasks that these hotels maids must perform in their job is
very limited, and the lack of English Language skills does not affect their performance”.
However, despite these findings it seems apparent in my view that the process of
providing a professional feel to the service offered can only be aided by an increase in
English language ability by all members of staff. Therefore, I suggest that a small
course in ETP would be very beneficial for the staff of this particular hotel and many
others like it. In addition, it would also satisfy the stakeholders by improving the
professionalism and hospitality offered.
In the minds of Hutchinson and Waters, the ESP approach to language learning
is firmly based on learner need. Likewise, Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998:122) affirm:
“needs analysis is the corner stone of ESP and leads to a very focused course.” Long
(2005:1) draws parallels with the medical profession; “Just as no medical intervention
would be prescribed before a through diagnosis of what ails the patient, so no
language teaching program should be designed without a thorough needs analysis.”
For this reason we need to explicitly ask: What exactly are the language needs of
workers in this particular hotel?
When considering the target needs of a group of learners, Hutchinson and
Waters (1987:55) suggest that we look at the target situation in terms of “necessities,
lacks and wants.” Necessities comprise what the learner’s need to know in order to
function effectively within the target situation, whereas lacks tell us their present
abilities. A course can, therefore, be designed to fill the void made up between these
two elements. It may however be naïve to base a needs analysis solely on what
educators and the institutional representatives feel the students want or need without
actually considering their opinions. “Bearing in mind the importance of learner
motivation in the learning process, learner perceived wants cannot be ignored”
(Hutchinson & Waters, 1987:57). Therefore to undertake a thorough needs analysis we
should complete what Dudley Evans and St John (1998:123) term a target situation
analysis (TSA), in which the objective and perceived needs of the learners are
established in addition to a present situation analysis (PSA), in which we can discover
the learners’ present abilities or lacks. Additionally, it is also very important to view
the learners as emotional human beings, with different feelings, attitudes as well as
having work-based commitments. An analysis of learning needs (Hutchinson & Waters,
1987: 60) or a learning situation analysis (LSA) (Dudley-Evans & St John 1998: 123) will
enable us to fully complete the picture of a needs analysis shedding light on how the
students learn a language, the environment in which learning will take place and what
will motivate them to learn more effectively.
CONCLUSION
The following paper has explored the factors involved in a needs analysis for
hotel workers in a resort in Thailand as well as to make predictions regarding the
elements which may feature in such an ETP course. I feel that the process of obtaining
needs and planning a course for the hotel and many others like it has been greatly
assisted by the above process. While this paper has approached needs analysis in a
hypothetical way it has helped to highlight some very important elements of
hospitality language and needs analysis. In particular it has drawn attention to the
importance of third-party information and the dangers of relying solely on TSA for
predictions of language needs. As the international movement of people continues to
increase around the world a greater demand will arise for competence in hospitality
language and an understanding of cross-cultural communication. In relation to the
numerous discussions regarding English as a global language it is important to
encourage creativity amongst language users and to provide a place for the expression
of what Blue & Harun (2003: 90) term “local colour”. This will enable hospitality
workers to fully develop their second language identities and provide tourists with an
enriched cultural experience as well as a pleasant stay.
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