Tài liệu Current situation of learning english in tourism for the senior students at thu dau mot university

THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES *********** GRADUATE PAPER TITLE: CURRENT SITUATION OF LEARNING ENGLISH IN TOURISM FOR THE SENIOR STUDENTS AT THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY. Student name: Nguyen Thanh Lam Student code: 1722202010140 Class: D17AVKD02 Course: 2017 - 2021 Major: English Language Lecturer: M.A, Phan Thi Phuoc Binh Duong, November/2020 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Student full name: Nguyễn Thanh Lam Student ID: 1722202010140 Title of paper: Current situation of learning English in tourism for the senior students at Thu Dau Mot University. I hereby confirm that I am the sole author of the paper presented. Where the work of others has been consulted, this is duly acknowledged in the paper‟s bibliography. I have also not consulted any other unnamed online sources. All verbatim or referential use of the sources named in the bibliography has been specifically indicated in the text. Binh Duong, November, 2020 Nguyen Thanh Lam ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I want to say thanks to my family and friends, who have always been by my side for supporting me so much, motivating me to complete my part in the best possible way. Furthermore, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all those who provided me the possibility to complete my report at Thu Dau Mot University. Sincere gratitude to my instructor, Mrs. Phan Thi Phuoc, who assisted, edited, and commented on my complete report. Finally, I want to thank people who have supported me, including students on campus, who helped me complete the survey. To wrap everything up, thank you so much for the many kind relationships and cooperation during my all semester at this wonderful school. Sincerely, Signature NGUYEN THANH LAM ABSTRACT English is a second language commonly used today in communication as well as in the sectors of trade and tourism. In reality, thanks to English, you can travel around the world and socialize with people everywhere. Most vacationers would use English to communicate when traveling for comfort and community purposes. Moreover, the tourism and travel industry is one of the main sectors of the economy and carries important elements for the growth of GDP. English and tourism have been integrated and incorporated into the curriculum of English language students at universities in order to foresee this situation. At Thu Dau Mot University, majoring students experience the subject in their final year and are seen as a prerequisite subject. In reality, there would be advantages and disadvantages when beginning a new subject, contrasting perceptions and opinions when experiencing the subject. I have done research on the status of the tourism English course for senior business English students at Thu Dau Mot University in order to delve into this in-depth. The aim of the study is to understand the advantages and disadvantages of students studying this subject, thus developing strengths and providing solutions to overcome the challenges facing students. In addition, know the needs that will provide sufficient recommendations when taking the issue. I surveyed 120 final-year students for this study, majoring in business English at Thu Dau Mot University, collected information, and analyzed it. The study has 5 main chapters. Chapter 1: Introduction introduces English Tourism, Statement of the problem, the purposes of the study, and research questions. Chapter 2: Literature Review provides a theory of English Tourism. Chapter 3: Data Collections and Analysis. Chapter 4: Discussion and Finding. Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations. I hope that the learning and cognitive attitudes of students towards this topic will be understood via this study, besides also providing materials for the following studies. Key words: English language, current situation, english of tourism, tourism TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 1 1.1. Rationale for study ........................................................................ 1 1.2. Statement of problem .................................................................... 2 1.3. Research questions ........................................................................ 2 1.4. Purposes of the study .................................................................... 2 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................. 4 2.1. History of tourism ......................................................................... 4 2.1.1 The origins of tourism ............................................................ 4 2.1.2 Definition of tourism ............................................................... 4 2.2. The origin of the English language .............................................. 5 2.2.1. Formation of E ............................................... nglish language 5 2.3. Application of English in the subject of tourism........................ 6 2.3.1. The use of English in tourism ............................................... 6 2.3.2. English tourism application to teaching .............................. 7 2.3.3. Tourism in English at Thu Dau Mot University ................. 7 2.4. Job opportunities from English tourism ..................................... 8 CHAPTER III: DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS .................. 9 3.1. The survey questionnaires ............................................................ 9 3.1.1. The design of questionnaires ................................................. 9 3.1.2. Research design .................................................................... 10 3.1.3. Research methodology ......................................................... 10 3.1.4. Research location ................................................................. 10 3.1.5. Participants and sampling strategies ................................. 10 3.2. Data collection ............................................................................. 10 3.3. The data analysis ......................................................................... 11 3.3.1 Information about the person who is taking the survey .... 11 3.3.2. Students' awareness of the importance of English communication in Tourism ........................................................... 13 3.3.3. The method of studying English Tourism for senior students ......................................................................................................... 14 3.3.4. Senior students' opinions on English Tourism maijor of Business English. ............................................................................ 18 CHAPTER IV: DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS ............................... 21 4.1. Discussion ..................................................................................... 21 4.2. Findings ......................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....... 23 5.1. Conclusion .................................................................................... 23 5.2. Recommendations ....................................................................... 23 LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1. Students' awareness of the importance of English communication in Tourism...................................................................................................... 13 Table 3.2. The advantages when learning English for tourism ................... 19 Table 3.3. The difficulties when learning English for tourism .................... 19 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1. The student's school year ........................................................ 12 Figure 3.2. Major of students..................................................................... 12 Figure 3.3. The time students spend studying English for tourism For a day .................................................................................................... 15 Figure 3.4. The time students spend studying English for tourism for a week. .................................................................................................. 15 Figure 3.5. Students’ skills to learn English Tourism ............................... 16 Figure 3.6. How students learn English Tourism ...................................... 16 CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION 1.1. Rationale for study: From the dawn of humankind to around a long time ago to now, communication, defined as a means to express or interchange sayings, opinions, emotions, information, by writing, speaking, gesturing, and more, has always played a vital role in people‟s lives (Nordquist, n.d.). Communication enables humans and other species to interact with each other and used to be processed in various forms. As time flew, ancient people came up with an idea of word formulation, which is composed of vowels and consonants. That the form of oral tradition was born was the result of it. Language, a system of traditional spoken, manual (signed) or written symbols allows human beings, as members of a social group and participants in their society to express themselves and communicate with people possessing the ability to use the same language (Crystal, 2020). Through many centuries, manifold events that happened concerning war, territorial divisions, diversity in races, and development of livings gave birth to nations. Each nation has its own language. The development of a nation will go hand in hand with the widespread recognition of its language. The long-standing advancement and the rise of Western countries accelerated English to become the most popular language and a mandatory subject at schools in some countries. British Study Centers (2020) have mentioned ten reasons to learn English, explained by the term of a global language, the tool for facilitating the job-hunting process, more meetings with different people, comprehension in reading and researching topics mostly written in English, the language of the media industry and the Internet, the expansion in business, easier access to travel, study, and multiple cultures. For the aforementioned clues, more attention should be paid to learning English. In addition, nowadays, The travel and tourism industry is one of the largest manufacturing sectors in the world on the grounds that it stimulates economic growth, generates jobs, increases social development, and promotes peace, by its sector, hundreds of millions of people around the world rely on for their jobs. The travel and tourism industry is a vast sector made up of millions of companies and employees, from the largest global travel brands to the smallest tour operator or hostel owner. Together, we are forming a powerful force with a presence to be heard at the highest levels of society and government (Sofronov, 2018). Referring to how big travel and tourism are, there always exists an increasing number of people in general and students, in particular, wishing to learn and involve in the travel field for better achievements. Nonetheless, advantages always come with arduousness. To be an expert in the travel field requires learners to spend more time practicing and experiencing real situations and devote their time to discovering those cultural features of places. Also, it is never regarded as an unchallenging road to learn and use the language effortlessly. Therefore, learners have to actively study and immerse themselves in it, particularly, English. For more progress in career, students at university have a tendency to choose to study English Business, in which English for tourism is an indispensable part of its curriculum. 1.2. Statement of problem: The problem shows how to learn and apply current learning methods of senior students majoring in business English in English language major. From the survey, it shows the advantages and disadvantages of learning the subject and the student's desire for the subject. 1.3. Research questions This study intended to answer the following questions: - What are the student's perception of the importance of English for tourism? - What are the difficulties and advantages when learning English for tourism students? 1.4. Purposes of the study First and foremost, the aim of the study is to make the students aware of the significance of the subject when added to the curriculum. Next, when introduced to the subject, the advantages and drawbacks are established, thereby identifying the needs of students for this subject. The last is to provide some ideas for improvement on the downside and build strengths when studying this subject. English is a second language widely used in communication today as well as used in the commerce and tourism industries. In fact, you can travel around the world and socialize with people everywhere thanks to English. Most vacationers will use English to communicate while traveling for convenience and community. The demand for tourism is increasing, communication and understanding of cultures of the countries are also increasing, so learning English to exchange information while traveling has also increased. Therefore, knowing English while traveling is an advantage to be able to push yourself forward and have the best experience. At Thu Dau Mot University, English language students are divided into teaching and business English majors. In the Business major, students are exposed to English for tourism. Everyone thinks that learning English for tourism is only for when it is necessary to travel, but in reality, not everyone studying English for business and tourism can make travel immediately, but that learning will work as a necessary tool for everyone to prepare for the best experience. That is the reason, I decided to do a study called "Current situation of learning English in tourism of the senior students at Thu Dau Mot University." CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. History of tourism 2.1.1. The origins of tourism Today, tourism is one of the key economic sectors of our country and its influence is increasing. Therefore, the history of the tourism industry is increasingly interesting and explored. The period of tourism is from the late 18th century and develops to the 21st century but the period begins a long time. In the Western tradition, organized travel with supporting infrastructure, sightseeing, and an emphasis on essential destinations and experiences can be found in ancient Greece and Rome, which can lay claim to the origins of both “heritage tourism” (intent at the celebration and appreciation of historic sites of recognized cultural importance) and beach resorts (John K. Walton, 2020). During the years that travel goes through, tourism gradually asserts its position. Travel offers meaningful rides and gets experience. By the early 19th century, European journeys for health, leisure, and culture became common practice among the middle classes, and paths to the acquisition of cultural capital (that array of knowledge, experience, and polish that was necessary to mix in polite society) were smoothed by guidebooks, primers, the development of art and souvenir markets, and carefully calibrated transport and accommodation systems. (John K. Walton, 2020). 2.1.2 Definition of Tourism According to Wikipedia, Tourism is travel for pleasure or business, also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. According to Smith (1988), an author of a specialist dictionary on tourism, the word „tourist‟ was introduced in 1800, and the word „tourism‟ in 1811. However, what exactly is no definition of either term has become extensively recognized regardless of the fact that both terms have now been part of the English language for over two centuries. As indicated by Smith (1988), he suggests that there “probably never will be a single definition of tourism” or tourists as economists, psychologists and geographers perceive different things about tourism in their own professional field (Smith 1988 as cited in Leiper). Though many of us have been “tourists” at some point in our lives, defining what tourism actually is can be difficult. Tourism is the activities of people traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for leisure, business, or other purposes for not more than one consecutive year. Tourism is a dynamic and competitive industry that requires the ability to adapt constantly to customers‟ changing needs and desires, as the customer‟s satisfaction, safety, and enjoyment are particularly the focus of tourism businesses. When it comes to the definition of "tourism" we refer to the movement of tourists. Besides, some people use it to refer to abstract concepts, covering people, places, and components. Lieper (1979), who has reviewed many of these definitions, suggests that the descriptions can be classified based on their manifest content into three categories: "economic," "technical," and "holistic." As informative as Liepcr's review is, he does not emphasize the fact that "tourism" has so many definitions because there are so many uses for definitions. His goal--a single, comprehensive, and widely. 2.2. The origin of the English language 2.2.1. Formation of English language English history is traditional, if maybe too tidy, divided into three ages, generally called Old English (or Anglo-Saxon), Middle English, and Modern English. English is part of the Indo-European language family and is thus related to the majority of other languages spoken from Iceland to India in Europe and Western Asia. (Merriam-Webster, 2020) English belongs to the Indo-European family of languages and is therefore related to most other languages spoken in Europe and western Asia from Iceland to India. Approximately 5,000 years ago, the parent language, dubbed Proto-Indo-European, was spoken by nomads thought to have roamed the southeast European plains. Germanic, one of the language groups descended from this ancestral expression, is generally divided into three geographical groups by scholars: East (BurgunVandal, and Gothic, all extinct), North (Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish), and West (Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish) (German, Dutch [and Flemish], Frisian, and English) (Potter and Crystal, 2020). Indian, 2.3. Application of English in the subject of tourism 2.3.1. The use of English in tourism We most frequently hear words such as Civil Engineering English, Computing English, Music English, Medicine English, Business English and so on. English for tourism and hospitality is used for international tourism and service sectors, which are considered for particular purposes within the English category and its practical implementation must be understood. In many different fields such as education, business, technology, media, science, tourism, and medicine, English has dominated (Zahedpisheh, N., Bakar, Z.A., & Saffari, N. (2017)) According to a survey and results of Needs Analysis on English Language Use in the Tourism Industry, the application of English in tourism is increasingly popular. The results showed that in this study, the majority of tourism employees classified all four abilities to listen, read, write, and talk as highly required. This can be explained by the fact that there are many foreigners visiting Thailand since the tourism industry has been promoted for many years, and as a result of this, tourism employees have had a great opportunity to use English when guiding foreign tourists to visit the tourist attractions, festivals, and events throughout Thailand. It can also be said that they prefer to use English more in order to interact with foreigners (Prachanant, N. (2012)). In the context of the tourism industry, English is the most widely spoken foreign language in Europe and around the world, as it has already been developed. (Cooper, C., & Latham, J. (1988)). Many scientists have analyzed and produced many different findings. In any field of research, tourism, the growth of transdisciplinarity often implies an acceleration of progress towards mode 2 knowledge: a new form of knowledge involving a variety of mechanisms for creating/knowledge exchange, participants from various disciplinary backgrounds, and a wide variety of places where knowledge is produced. (Fox, R. (2008)). 2.3.2. English tourism application to teaching When tourism and English become increasingly popular, it is increasingly important for teachers to bring them into teaching education, requiring teachers and learners to connect with them in the right way. For learners in the most attentive way. To acquire information, students have had tours and extracurricular experiences from primary and high school and will eventually shape the idea of traveling and learning the knowledge in the mind of the child. Educational visits are an important source of custom for a range of attractions - many rely on educational parties for up to 10% of their total visits. There are sound economic reasons for attracting educational groups as they often visit during the week or out of the peak season and provide a much-needed contribution to fixed costs at a time when there may otherwise be few visitors. (Raţă, G., Petroman, C., & Petroman, I. (2013)). 2.3.3. Tourism in English at Thu Dau Mot University It is evident today that in the time of national industrialization and modernization, the tourism service industry has an attraction and a significant role to play. There are many tourists who come to Vietnam and often want to explore this country, so it is important to interact to be able to impart Vietnam's culture to tourists and learn more about your country's culture. When asked about the relevance of this topic, the majority replied that the topic is relevant in the major and gained support when the topic for final year students was added to the major. In a positive direction, being exposed to English for tourism in the university environment as a subject will help students a lot. Today, it is undeniable that the tourism service industry has an attraction to and plays an important role in the period of national industrialization and modernization. There are many tourists going to Vietnam and always want to explore this country so communication is always the fastest way to reach tourists. Adopt English as a second language. Besides, when doing jobs related to tourism, we really need English to communicate, so we can mention the following benefits. First, you will easily make friends and express yourself. It's easier than ever to express and express your thoughts, wherever you go. Asking and explaining what you want will be simpler. For example, if there is a problem at the airport, you can easily clarify everything. At the hotel, you can order food and order the services you want. English helps you get what you want and deliver the best value for your money. When you can speak English as a common language, it is easier for you to meet interesting people and build new relationships, and from there, learn a lot from their lifestyle. Next, Knowing English gives you more confidence: When you know that you can easily express your thoughts and even make new friends, your confidence will drastically improve during the trip. Since you can hear what people are saying, and can even ask questions when needed, you can keep yourself safe by avoiding dangerous places. You will learn more abroad when you speak English because When you learn English, it is easier to understand that local culture. 2.4. Job opportunities from English tourism Job opportunities when learning English for tourism are always open to students, especially students in business English. It will be an advantage when students have appropriate learning methods and know-how to catch internship opportunities in different large and small companies. We can refer to job opportunities such as receptionists, office workers in big hotels or resorts, tour guides in English; Assistant to department heads in hotels, Assistant to the director; Marketing staff for tourism projects; Staff specializing in customer care services, sales staff, tour operators in travel agencies; Ticketing, booking, receptionists in travel agencies, hotels, and businesses speak English. CHAPTER III: DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS 3.1. The survey questionnaires. 3.1.1. The design of questionnaires. The students' questionnaire is a fourteen-item questionnaire divided into three sections. The questionnaire will concentrate on the most objective questions to fit the subject of the study. Part one included three questions that provide information about the survey subjects to make sure that the survey subjects are final-year students majoring in business English at Thu Dau University. In part two will show senior students 'perceptions of Business English majors on the importance of Tourism English denoted in question 3,4,5. In part three, is the method of studying English Tourism for final year students, including the time to study and how to use the skills to the subject (questions 6,7,8,&9). And the last part of the survey that senior students' opinions on English Tourism major Business English to collect more ideas on what to expect from the subject (question from 10 to 12). This questionnaire was designed to exploit the information in the following aspects:  Question 1: To know the student's school year  Question 2: To know the major of the students  Question 3: Students' awareness of the importance of English communication in tourism  Question 4: Students' awareness of the importance of English for tourism  Question 5: Know the importance of English for tourism in career opportunities  Question 6&7: To know the time that students spend in English tourism at home.  Question 8: Know the skills that students use when learning English for tourism  Question 9: To know supporting tools when students learn English of Tourism  Question 10: To see some advantages of learning English for Tourism  Question 11: To find out some difficulties when learning English for tourism  Question 12: To collect more ideas on what to expect from the subject. 3.1.2. Research design To conduct this research, I decided to choose primary research, defined as a methodology to collect data straightly, in lieu of using data amassed from formerly conducted research. Therefore, there will be no unconvincing data. In addition, with this type of research, researchers can give entire attention to the matter and go deeply into the research. Further and more importantly, this type also enables researchers to control the data and determine how the data will be used and collected for better insights. For the above fortes, it will be the most effective to use primary research. 3.1.3. Research methodology I used a quantitative method since this method helps the researcher to collect and analyze numerical data which can be mathematically computed. 3.1.4. Research location For a quantitative method, it is conducted online due to the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic is dangerous to everyone. As a result, doing survey at a particular location will come with some difficulties for me and I will find it arduous to implement getting information process. 3.1.5. Participants and sampling strategies As for online surveys, I resorted to the purposive sampling strategy as this type of sampling lets the researcher utilize their judgment to pick participants having the most useful contributions to the purpose of the research. For that reason, I have chosen this sample to approach 120 target participants, who are members of every English Business class group in Thu Dau Mot University. 3.2 Data collection For quantitative method, it will be carried out by using an online survey, particularly with the means of Google Form tools. The survey will be designed with a well-structured questionnaire under the guidance of the author. The questionnaire will comprise 12 closed questions with multiple choices. To complete the questionnaire, they have to choose their answers by ticking. The survey is conducted online, so the respondents must have mobile devices, laptops, or computers with an Internet connection. The researcher will post it on English Business classes to call for participants. The advantage of this survey goes with the quickness. It only takes participants almost 3-5 minutes for all of them to complete the survey, so the number of participants who ungrudgingly fulfill it will be huge. Moreover, running it online will lower the cost for the researcher during the implementation process. 3.3. The data analysis With the permission of the teacher, the online survey was sent to the student groups each other class group, this is a time-consuming and convenient way of survey during the covid-19 season to ensure safe contact. Quantitative data will be analyzed with the means of application of statistical software, which is Google Form. The form will be closed on. After the data have been collected, Google Form will demonstrate the data as charts or tables so that the researcher can examine the relationships and trends in the data. Also, the researcher can apply Descriptive Statistics to summarize the data and find the features. The percentage is commonly used in Descriptive Statistics to express how a group of respondents within a data pertains to a larger group of respondents. For instance, age and gender distribution will be best shown in percentage. 3.3.1 Information about the person who is taking the survey The figure 3.3.1 and figure 3.3.2 in part 1 of the survey shows that the 120 students surveyed are senior students majoring in English at Thu Dau Mot University and all students are involved in English Business Major. This shows that the respondents met the needs and scope of the survey. Therefore, the survey will produce the most objective results possible. 0% 100% Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior Figure 3.1. The student's school year 0% 100% English Teaching English Business Figure 3.2. Maijor of students 3.3.2. Students' awareness of the importance of English communication in tourism In this table, respondents had to tick on the boxes that describe their opinion. The level of important would be presented by number from one to five (1)Not important, (2) Less (4)Important, (5)Very important important, Question (3)So important, Level 1 2 3 4 5 3. Do you think English is the 3% important language to communicate when traveling? 12% 20% 31% 34% 4. Do you realize that learning 3% English for tourism is important or not? 5% 10% 26% 56% 5. Do you think the subject 2% would have high job prospects? 4% 15% 12% 67% Table 3.1. Students' awareness of the importance of English communication in tourism