ENGLISH FOR TOURISM STUDENTS

Tourism is  one of the biggest industries in the world. English is currently the way to face globalization and to set up a bridge between peoples. A Tourism course should enable its students to become qualified professionals, to be responsible for their work, to develop self-study strategies, without ever forgetting that each one is an individual and has his/her own characteristics. That is why every ESP course should be learner-centered. Because each learner has his/her own specific needs, his/her previous individual experience, each student is different and has his/her own beliefs, knowledge, way of thinking, interacting and socializing with others. That should be respected, we should take advantage of those differences and take them into class, explore them. We all can achieve with the difference, it brings cultural variety to school, critical thinking and self reflection. These differences and similarities are what make us human and what makes teaching interesting. Everyone has different skills and talents, it is important to remember that diversity is strength. It is this holistic understanding that we should bring to ESP. The world can become a village without every place losing its singularities.

Teachers should not only repeat, give information, we must be our students guiders, to allow them to discuss, to question, we should not be only mere «satisfiers», but mainly «motivators» (cf. Nieragden, G., 2000). The crucial difference between satisfiers and motivators as determining factors of people’s job performance: satisfiers, as guards of average potential, concern the working conditions and environment, the wages, the benefits, and the degree of job security, whereas motivators, as stimulators of high potential, comprise challenging and creative tasks, recognition by peers and seniors, personal responsibility, possibilities for promotion, and the subjective feeling of forming part of corporate cultures. Nieragden, G., http://www.eltnewsletter.com/back/september2000

 From the early 1960's, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has grown to become one of the most prominent areas of EFL teaching today. “ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning”. Hutchinson, 1987:19 on Lisboa, J. Maria viewed on (www.esp-world.info/articles.../nittaya). ESP’s main goal is to prepare students, in a relatively short period of time, to read, understand and communicate better so they can work properly in a certain activity.  ESP is divided into English for Academic Purposes (English for Science and Technology and English for Academic Purposes) and English for Occupational Purposes (Vocational English and Professional English), English for Tourism comes within Professional English, as a subject of Business English.

Today we are near everything and everybody. Tourism is a more competitive market than before, generally due to this proximity, this closeness. We travel to encounter new cultures, which are different from ours, so Tourism can only survive if we are able to maintain the local characteristics of a country, of a place and if we are able to promote this singularity to potential buyers. And where does the English language come in? English is the bridge between tourists and tourism operators. Tourists are getting more demanding, they are better informed, they have more tourism related offers, they enjoy more holiday periods, shorter in terms of time but more in number, they give greater relevance to quality, they search for different types of holidays, they book more last minute holidays, they have more and more different motivations to go on holiday. The people who have key roles in the education and preparation of the Tourism Operators have to be prepared for these new exigencies, with a language which will help all to share knowledge, to communicate and to make tourism an even greater source of enjoyment, of cultural sharing and ultimately profitable for all concerned.

In learning process the students must process the skills. Such as the ability to learn languages, be open-minded, have communication competence, organizational skills, initiative, commercial sense and decision-making capacity. The goals of the Tourism Course are to prepare Tourism operators to work in the Tourism sector which is of great importance in Indonesia. What is the basic profile of the person who wishes to work effectively in Tourism? First of all he/she needs to know GE, the core structures and vocabulary, how to greet, to introduce himself/herself, to know the numbers, the forms of address, information on countries and nationalities, general geography, dates, asking the way, how to use familiar everyday expressions, can communicate in simple routine tasks, can use expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance or need, can describe himself/herself, can describe his/her background, and he/she also needs to have a certain attitudes, to be punctual, to be communicative, reliable, to have some notions of etiquette, politeness, body language and eye contact.

Why the students should have several points like I mention previous? Because more and more companies believe that one of the best ways to gain competitive advantage it is to make sure that their employees have soft skills, besides technical skills, of course. These entail an attitude of optimism in their employees so that they know how to relate with their colleagues, clients or supervisors, that they are aware of their own attitudes towards others. Similar care should be given to both, I mean, technical and soft skills should go, preferable, hand in hand. Even when we speak of clients, good customer service is sometimes more valued then knowledge of the subject area, when speaking of customer loyalty, expertise and credentials are less valued then the willingness to help or the ability to solve problems in a short period of time. The use of soft skills may make the difference between an average company and a good one. The Tourism Work Group’s opinion on the implementation of the Bologna Process underlines it when it states that one of the main systemic and conceptual competences of a tourism student is Auto controlo e gestão do stress (www.mctes.pt/docs/ficheiros/parecer_turismo_índice_e_grupo_trabalho.pdf).

But what do I mean by soft skills? Soft, emotional or social skills are the capacity to communicate properly in a specific situation or context; it is ”the ability to fit into a particular structure”. (Nieragden, G., 2000)on Lisboa, J. Maria viewed on (www.esp-world.info/articles.../nittaya . Soft skills are non-technical skills, abilities and traits required to work in a certain profession. We begin by acquiring them as children, shaping them as young adults and development them throughout our adult lives. We may learn, acquire the technical skills quicker if we have the necessary soft skills to perform that specific task. It also makes it easier to fit into or to adapt to a certain employment environment, which, most of the time, has specific company norms or cultural practices. Soft skills may be divided into four main categories: Communication (listening skills, presentation skill), Interaction (attitude awareness, conflict handling), Self-Management (time management, creativity) and Organization (problem solving, critical thinking). For example, a hotel receptionist has got to know a lot about tourism to perform well in his/her job, but he/she has to know, also, how to handle stress situations (complaints, obstreperous clients and keeping a serene attitude in demanding contexts). Clients are sometimes more interested with the fact that the operator is able to solve, or just listen to their problem, then with evidence that he/she has a lot of knowledge concerning a tourism-related area.

As ESP teachers we have to prepare students for this reality, because these skills cannot be encountered in a curriculum, higher education does not stress or value these competences but employers may wish to find them during an extensive interview, for example. That is why we, as teachers, have to be the first to have, show, and share these skills, so our students may then acquire them. Soft Skills are of great help when teaching ESP. I use simulated situations to help students to deal with stressful contexts, with unpredictable events where they feel uncomfortable, where they feel they do not control the situation. Simulating situational contexts helps students to feel more secure when facing unpredictability.

It can be concluded ESP for tourism is very important to learn, because Indonesia is a country which has a lot of culture, tourism object, historical place and many other that we can promote to the world as our identity, and of course it can increase our income. But we have to keep in our mind if the ESP community hopes to grow in Indonesia, it is vital that the community as a whole understands what ESP actually represents, and can accept the various roles that ESP practitioners need to adopt to ensure its success. Only then, can new members join with confidence, and existing members carry on the practices which have brought ESP to the position that it has in EFL teaching today.

  

References:

Lisboa J. M, “what is the basic Profile of the person who wishes to work effectually in Tourism” Available from: www.esp-world.info/articles.../nittaya. (Accessed 04/06/12).

Parecer do Grupo de Trabalho de Turismo sobre o Processo de Bolonha www.mctes.pt/docs/ficheiros/parecer_turismo_índice_e_grupo_trabalho.pdf (Accesed 03/06/12)

NIERAGDEN, Goeran, 2000: The Soft Skills of Business English. Cologne. http://www.eltnewsletter.com/back/september2000 (Accessed 02/06/12).