A Study of Foreign Tourists’ Attitudes toward English Communication Problems of the Staff at Tourist Assistance Center at Phuket International Airport
Keywords:
Attitudes, Foreign tourists, English communication problems, TAC staff, Phuket international airportAbstract
This qualitative research examined the attitudes of foreign tourists toward oral English communication problems of Thai staff working for the Tourist Assistance Center (TAC) at Phuket International Airport. Moreover, the research was able to obtain the foreign tourists’ recommendations about English communication for the staff. The participants of this study were seven foreign tourists who asked for help at the tourist assistance center. The main instrument used was a semi-structured interview. The results showed that the foreign tourists had various views toward the English communication problems faced by the Thai staff. The problems were about listening and speaking skills, accents, pronunciation, speaking speed, and vocabulary usage. Further, all the foreign tourists provided several recommendations to improve the staff’s English ability in order to increase the effectiveness of TAC staff communication.
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