A Needs Analysis of Thai Massage Employees' (Thai Massage Therapists, Receptionists, and Managers) English Communication Skills in the City of Pattaya, Chonburi

Autor/in	Chiablaem, Parichat
Titel	A Needs Analysis of Thai Massage Employees' (Thai Massage Therapists, Receptionists, and Managers) English Communication Skills in the City of Pattaya, Chonburi
Quelle	In: rEFLections, 27 (2020) 2, S.274-292 (19 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1513–5934
Schlagwörter	Employees; Employee Attitudes; Allied Health Personnel; Physical Therapy; Work Environment; Personnel Needs; English for Special Purposes; Second Language Instruction; Course Descriptions; Business Communication; Communication Problems; Communicative Competence (Languages); Listening Skills; Tourism; Curriculum Design; Foreign Countries; Thailand + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Employee; Arbeitnehmer; Beschäftigter; Arbeitnehmerinteresse; Physiotherapie; Arbeitsmilieu; Personnel requirement; Personalbedarf; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Kursstrukturplan; Unternehmenskommunikation; Kommunikationsbarriere; Communicative competence; Languages; Kommunikative Kompetenz; Sprache; Tourismus; Lehrplangestaltung; Ausland
Abstract	English communication has gained its importance for Thai massage employees who are required to interact and provide massage services to foreign customers due to the popularity of Thai massage among foreigners. This study attempts to explore and analyze the needs and problems of Thai massage employees towards English communication in their workplaces located in Pattaya City, Thailand. This is a mixed-methodology research collecting data from 132 Thai massage employees through an online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with five Thai massage employees to obtain insight data and further information. The key findings show that speaking and listening skills are the most needed skills including English vocabulary knowledge. In terms of the most problematic skills, speaking, listening, and writing respectively were rated as high while reading skill reported as moderate. According to the interview, the results reveal that English competency may not greatly affect the quality of Thai massage service; however, being able to use English properly increases customers' satisfaction and reduces time for the employees to communicate with foreign customers. The findings also indicate that the Thai massage therapists use their body languages, pictures, and memorized English patterns and sample phrases to communicate with foreign customers as their solutions for English communication problems. This research which was conducted under a fund of the Faculty of Management Sciences, Kasetsart University reports the needs and problems of these groups of people in order to design an English for Spa course based on English for Specific Purposes (ESP) principles to foster English communication skills for the Thai massage employees as well as for business students who are interested in ESP courses. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi School of Liberal Arts. 126 Pracha Uthit Road, Bang Mod, Thung Khru, Bangkok, Thailand 10140. Tel: +66-2470-8756; Fax: +66-2428-3375; Web site: https://so05.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/reflections/index
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01