The English for Tourism and Hospitality - Case Study Example

Case Study of Program Design Introduction The tourism and hospitality industry is one of the most lucrative industries that largely depends on the provision of quality survives. This industry is characterised by high competition thus in order for any company to survive and maintain their competitive edge in the market, their services have to be exceptional. When it comes to the delivery of quality services, effective communication skills are imperative. Good written and oral communication skills are important skills to practitioners at various levels in the tourism and hospitality industry. Good English language skills add value to the education of learners and the tourism and hospitality industry in general. Therefore, there is need to institute language programs for tourism and hospitality industries in order to enhance good communication and the delivery of quality services within this industry (Bobanovic & Grzinic, 2011). The English for Tourism and Hospitality (ETH) course is a good example of an English language program provided for work and study in the field of Tourism and Hospitality. This program aims at equipping students with communication skills in English which would improve their prospects of employment and a successful career in job opportunities in the tourism and hospitality industry in both domestic and international markets. The program accentuates on improving student’s communication skills in English and building their confidence in providing quality customer service in different capacities in the tourism and hospitality industry (APC 2010). This report seeks to examine the English for Tourism and Hospitality (ETH) course program for work and study in the field of Tourism and Hospitality. It will briefly describe the ETH course program with close reference to its institutional context and the target group. Secondly, it will depict a need analysis for this program. Moreover, this report will provide analysis and critique of the key features of the program. Subsequently, it will link and justify the program design of the ETH course program based on how the content is determined and sequenced in the program. In this case, relevant examples will be used to illustrate the content of the program design. English for Tourism and Hospitality Course Rationale The English for Tourism and Hospitality (ETH) course is a program for work and study in the field of Tourism and Hospitality. The ETH course is designed to provide comprehensive, practical experience in the range of skills required for learners who have an interest in careers in the tourism and hospitality industry. The course emphasizes on teaching the students the communication skills in English which would improve their prospects of employment and a successful career in job opportunities in the tourism and hospitality industry both domestically and abroad (APC 2010). The ETH course aims to improve the student’s communication skills in English and to improve their confidence in providing quality customer service in the various aspects in the tourism and hospitality industry. The students will be exposed to various practical scenarios where they are expected to learn the basic and advanced vocabulary and language skills to perform or respond effectively in a number of situations. Among other things, students will learn basic hospitality and tourism and travel English, learn how to write successful job applications for jobs in the tourism and hospitality industry in the form of CVs, how to undertake reception duties, how to confidently hold telephone interactions with customers and respond to enquiries, workplace correspondence, how to deal with customer complaints and feedback, how to promote events and attractions and describing, comparing and promoting facilities such as hotels, spas, resorts and other tourist attractions. In addition, the course also aims to facilitate the student’s skills to learn independently and from real life practical situations outside of the classroom (APC 2010). Context The ETH course is English for Specific Purposes (ESP) program within English Language Teaching (ELT) which is focused on providing practical outcomes for students or learners. Consistent with characteristics of ESP programs, the ETH course is designed to meet the specific needs of learners with intentions of working or career aspirations in the tourism and hospitality industry (Hedge 2000). It makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of tourism and hospitality and centers on the language, skills, genres and discourses appropriate to these activities (Hedge 2000). Like most ESP programs, the ETH course is designed for adult learners at tertiary or post secondary level institutions such as colleges and universities or for learners in a professional work situation. As part of the entry requirements or criteria for enrolment, the ETH course assumes basic and operational knowledge of English (APC 2010). Aspects of Program Design Needs Analysis Needs analysis has been defined as the identification and taking into account of the multiplicity of affective and cognitive variables which affect learning. These variables include but are not limited to the learner’s personality, motivation, awareness, wants, expectations, attitudes and learning styles (Brindley 1989). Needs analysis primarily focuses on the learner as an individual in the ESP learning process. Needs analysis is important in course design since in focused courses such as ETH there is the pressure for teachers or instructors to accommodate the many individual needs and circumstances of their learners. The needs analysis conducted prior to course design subsequently determines the curriculum and syllabus of the ESP program. Brindley makes a distinction between objective and subjective needs analysis. Objective needs analysis aims to gather facts or information for the purpose of setting the course’s broad goals which are related to the language content. On the other hand, subjective needs analysis focuses on collecting information about the learners which is then used to shape or guide the actual learning process once it has commenced. The actual needs analysis for the ETH course offered in tertiary institutions is primarily objective needs analysis and is grounded in the specific purpose approach to needs analysis proposed by Bridley (1984). There are several important characteristics of the specific purpose approach consistent with the possible and actual needs analysis that may be conducted for the ETH course as an ESP program. The view of the learner in the ETH course is that of a language user, not a beginner or language learner since to work in Australia’s tourism and hospitality industry one must already speak English. The view of needs is that objective needs are stressed. In the ETH case, this need is viewed as the gap between the student’s or learner’s present language performance in the various aspects of tourism and hospitality service provision and the performance required for specific communication situations that they may encounter while working. This includes in aspects such as describing and promoting hotels and resorts, responding to customer enquiries or complaints or even more significantly, successful application for jobs in tourism and hospitality establishments such as hotels and resorts (APC 2010). This approach also emphasizes on the collection of detailed data on the learner’s objective needs to identify their specific area of need or interest under the rationale that learners would learn more effectively if the content of the course is programmed to their specific needs and emphasizes on operating effectively in various scenarios in the tourism and hospitality industry as opposed to general English proficiency. The specific purposes approach also outlines the type of information that is to be collected for needs analysis, the method of collecting this information, when it should be collected, how the analysis of the information is used and the purpose of collecting such information. The information to be collected for the ETH program would mostly be biographical data on the learner such as their levels of education and the needs of other parties in the communication target situation. In the ETH program, this would include for instance the communication needs of hotel managers, tour operators or even tourists themselves. According to this approach, the information is collected mainly at the pre course stage with consultation and feedback ongoing throughout the course based on the teacher’s or instructor’s discretion. The information is analysed and used to reconcile the learner’s progress with the intended objectives of the program or the needs of other parties (in the tourism and hospitality industry). The purpose of collecting such information is to present learners with language data that is relevant to their own personal and social goals and motivate them through the relevance of the language content to facilitate learning (Brindley 1989). However, while Brindley’s specific purposes model is appropriate for ESL programs, it must be noted that the program design for ESP programs such as the ETH should be less learner centered with an emphasis on more objective needs. While it is important to factor in learner considerations in designing such programs, the reality is that the success or failure of ESP programs such as the ETH course is determined by the learner’s ability to achieve proficiency and meet the performance or communication needs of other parties in the target situation. Therefore, the preoccupation of needs analysis should be whether the learner or student would be able to meet the communication needs of English speaking tourists, hotel managers, tour operators or other practitioners in the tourism and hospitality field. Explicit and implicit goals and objectives of the program The goals and objectives of the ETH course are embedded on the dimensions of language content, processes and outcomes. Basically, the curriculum objectives and goals of this program accentuate on these dimensions (Dubin & Olshtain 1996). For instance, when it comes to the dimension of language content embedded in this program, the implicit objectives and goals of this program is to; Incorporate themes and units of language that help learners to attain good English language skills (reading, writing and listening) that will add value to their overall learning process and education. Efficiently sequence or order elements in the syllabus so as to help students cope with input texts in the discipline such as, listening and reading and produce output texts in speech and writing throughout the program. Efficiently sequence or order elements in the syllabus so as to effectively meet the learning needs of students and cover the course outline. When it comes to the process or means dimension embedded in this program, the implicit objectives and goals of this program is to; Focus on key vocabulary used in this discipline and on phrases and words commonly employed in technical and academic English. Cover key concepts and facts from this discipline hence providing learners a strong foundation in English language skills. Equip learners to become progressively self- sustainable during their learning process by prioritizing and promoting collaborative and student centred learning initiatives. Employ a wide- range of interactive learning initiatives in order to promote learners awareness on good English language skills and their application in real life situations. Some of the general goals of this program with regard to the specific achievements and outcomes that dominantly shape this program include; To improve the communication skills of learners so as improve their prospects of employment and a successful career in the tourism and hospitality industry. Equip learners with basic and advanced vocabulary knowledge and language skills to perform or respond effectively in a number of situations in the hospitality and tourism industry. Equip learners with skills to promote events and attractions and describing, comparing and promoting facilities such as hotels, spas, resorts and other tourist attractions. Equip learners with basic knowledge of hospitality and tourism and travel English in order for them to be able to write successful job applications for jobs in the tourism and hospitality industry, undertake reception duties and confidently respond to enquiries, workplace correspondence and effectively deal with customer complaints and feedback. Content and sequencing of the program It is difficult for learners to learn good English language skills at once. It is also difficult for them to effectively learn from a random collection of unrelated topics (Feez & Joyce 1998). Thus the ETH course program incorporates a systematic plan for course content that is geared towards the desired learning outcomes. The content and the sequencing of this course program puts in to account the learning needs of students and their learning progress. The course incorporates what learners need to learn, it also sequences the course elements so as to ensure that learning is as effective as possible Based on the content incorporated in ETH course program, the syllabus of this course can be considered as a text-based syllabus. For instance, ETH course syllabus efficiently sequence or order elements in the syllabus so as to help students cope with input texts in the discipline such as, listening and reading and produce output texts in speech and writing throughout the program. Moreover, According to Feez & Joyce (1998), a text-based syllabus responds to the changing views of language and overall language leaning. It incorporates an in-depth understanding of how language is structured and used within social contexts. The design of a text-based syllabus mainly focuses on what learners do with language and the unit discourse referred to as texts. For example the ETH syllabus focus on key vocabulary used in this discipline and on phrases and words commonly employed in technical and academic English. The elements of the ETH syllabus have been given direction and unity by being organised based on the methodology used and the models of the content. Moreover, the content of this syllabus is based on texts that selected with reference to the needs of learners and the social contexts in which the learners are affiliated with. The methodology employed in executing the syllabus requirements incorporates a model of learning and teaching whereby learners gradually gain control of their learning. One of the objectives of the ETH syllabus is to progressively equip learners so that they can become self- sustainable during their learning process by prioritizing and promoting collaborative and student centred learning initiatives (Feez & Joyce 1998). Conclusion In the tourism and hospitality industry, good English language skills in written and oral forms of communication are essential for the delivery of efficient and quality services. Therefore, language programs for tourism and hospitality industries are important in order to equip students with communication skills in English which would improve their prospects of employment and a successful career in the tourism and hospitality industry in both domestic and international markets (Bobanovic & Grzinic, 2011). The English for Tourism and Hospitality (ETH) course is a good example of an English language program that can equip learners with good communication skills in English. This report has examined the ETH course program for work and study in the field of Tourism and Hospitality with reference to its context, need, content and sequencing. Based on the findings of this report, the ETH course program incorporates themes and units of language that help learners to attain good English language skills that add value to the education of learners and the tourism and hospitality industry in general. In addition the context and sequencing of this program effectively meet the learning needs of students with regards to attaining good English communication skills. References Australian Pacific College (APC), 2010, English for Tourism and Hospitality. Retrieved on April 9, 2011 from Brindley,G., 1984.Needs Analysis and Objective Setting in the Adult Migrant Education Programme, NSW Adult Migrant Education service, Sydney. Bobanovic, M. & Grzinic, J., 2011, The importance of English language skills in the tourism sector: A comparative study of students/employees perception in Croatia. Journal of tourism, culture and territorial development Vol 1, No. 4. Dubin, F. & Olshtain, E., 1996, 'How goals become realised through instructional plans', Course Design, CUP, Cambridge. Feez, S. & Joyce, H., 1998, Text-Based Syllabus Design, National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research, NSW. Read More