A Study of English Listening and Speaking Problems of Tourist Assistants at Phuket International Airport
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Abstract
English communication skills are crucial for Thai staff of tourism. They need to assist foreign tourists in Thailand. If they have good listening-speaking skills, their oral communication with the foreign tourists will be more effective. At present, the Tourist Assistance Center (TAC) was established by the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports to help local and international tourists in certain major tourist provinces. In this center, there are a number of tourist assistant officers who are working for this function. However, they seem to face problems in English listening-speaking skills. This affects their conversation in facilitating the foreign tourists. Thus, this research study aimed to study their problems in English listening-speaking skills and to present their views on solutions to the problems. This qualitative study employed semi-structured interview. The results showed that these Thai officers had various dimensions of English listening-speaking problems. Further, they used different strategies in solving those emerging problems while they were working with the foreigners. Overall, this study reflects Thai tourist assistants’ attempt to improve their English use for oral communication.
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