Barriers in English Communication of Tourism Business Entrepreneurs in Nong Khai Province

Authors

  • มาลีรัตน์ กะการดี
  • Angsu-orn Na Nongkhai
  • Chayachon Chuanon
  • Kittichai Nilubol
  • Wipaporn Budseetad

Keywords:

English for Communication, Tourism Business Entrepreneurs, The relationship factors and barriers in English communication of tourism business entrepreneurs

Abstract

This research study the investigates barriers in English communication of tourism business entrepreneurs in Nong Khai Province. It also examines relationships between such barriers and possible factors related to English communication of the entrepreneurs. By adopting a mixed-method research design, 40 entrepreneurs from the tourism business sector around Nong Khai participated in the survey and interviews. Basic statistics, frequency, percentage, and chi-square were used to analyze the data. The results show that most common communication barriers reported by the entrepreneurs were related to insufficient knowledge of vocabulary, a lack of grammatical knowledge, and an inability to comprehend different English accents of foreigners. Number of years of working, education levels, nationalities of foreign customers, English listening skills, English speaking skills, adequacy of English communication skills in the workplace, duration of studying English in college and the adequacy of English language learning to work were found to have a significant correlation with the barriers in English communication of the tourism business entrepreneurs in Nong Khai Province.

References

Anderson, R. C. (1985). Becoming a nation of readers: The report of the Commission on
Reading. National Inst. of Education (ED), Washington, DC.
Barna, L. M. (1985). Difficulties in Communicating among people of different cultures. In P. A.
Porter, M. Grant, & M. Draper, Communicating Effectively in English; Oral
Communication for Non-Native Speakers (pp.14-17). USA: Wadsworth Publishing.
Bobanovic, M. K., & Grzinic, J. (2011). The importance of English language
skills in the tourism sector: A comparative study of students/employees
perceptions in Croatia. Almatourism-Journal of Tourism, Culture and Territorial Development, 2(4), 10-23.
Chancharat, S. (2011). Thai Tourism and Economic Development: The Current State of
Research. Kasetsart J. (Soc.Sci), 32, 340-351.
Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge University.
Foley, J. (2005). English in...Thailand. RELC Journal, 36(2), 223 - 234.
Jenkins, J. (2000). The Phonology of English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Jenkins, J. (2009). English as a Lingua Franca: Interpretations and attitudes. World Englishes.
28(2), 200-217.
Khamkhien, A. (2010). Teaching English speaking skills and English speaking tests in the Thai
context: A reflection from Thai perspective. English Language Teaching, 3(1), 184-190.
Kuosuwan, B. (2016). The Readiness of English Communication Skills of Tourism
Employees in Bangkok for Entering the ASEAN Community. International Journal of
Environmental and Science Education, 11, 12903-12907.
Marczyk, G., DeMatteo, D., & Festinger, D. (2005). Essentials of research design and
methodology. John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Misnistry of Tourism & Sports. (2015). Tourism Strategic Plan 2015-2017. Retrieved August 30, 2018 from https://www.mots.go.th/ewt_dl_link.php?nid=7114
Morley, J. (1998). Trippingly on the tongue: Putting serious speech/pronunciation instruction
back in the TESOL equation. ESL Magazine, January/February, 20–23.
Munro, M. J., Derwing, T. M., & Morton, S. L. (2006). The mutual intelligibility of L2 speech.
Studies in second language acquisition. 28 (1), 111-131.
Nong Khai Statistical Office. (2017). Tourism Statistic Table. Retrieved August 30, 2018 from http://nongkhai.nso.go.th/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=80&id=226
Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tourism Authority of Thailand. (2011). Amazing Thailand up to Unseen Thailand. Retrieved
August 20, 2018 from http://www.tourismthailandl.org/About-TAT/TAT-Informative
Ur, P. (1996). A course in language teaching: Practice and theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wolvin, A., & Coakley, C. (1991). A survey of the status of listening training in some Fortune
500 Corporations. Communication Education, 40, 152–164.
Zulkurnain, N., & Kaur, S. (2014). Oral English Communication Difficulties and Coping
Strategies of Diploma of Hotel Management Students at UiTM. 3L: The Southeast
Asian Journal of English Language Studies. 20(3), 93-112.

Downloads

Published

2018-12-01

How to Cite

Kakandee, M., Na Nongkhai, A., Chuanon, C., Nilubol, K., & Budseetad, W. (2018). Barriers in English Communication of Tourism Business Entrepreneurs in Nong Khai Province . Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Loei Rajabhat University, 1(2), 67–83. Retrieved from https://so01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/husolru/article/view/245403