The research looks into Tourism students of UiTM Penang skills needs in English proficiency

1. IDENTIFYING UITM PENANG FACULTY OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT AND TOURISM
STUDENTS' NEEDS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
(VERBAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS)
INSTITUT PENGURUSAN PENYELIDIKAN
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
40450 SHAH ALAM, SELANGOR
MALAYSIA
PREPARED BY:
FARINA NOZAKIAH TAZIJAN
SUZANA AB. RAHIM
AZNIZAH HUSSIN
DEC 2009
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2. IDENTIFYING UITM PENANG FACULTY OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT AND TOURISM
STUDENTS' NEEDS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
(VERBAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS)
PREPARED BY:
FARINA NOZAKIAH TAZIJAN
SUZANA AB. RAHIM
AZNIZAH HUSSIN
DEC 2009
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3. Surat Kami : 600-UiTMPP (URDC:5/2/267)
Tarikh : 15Ogos2008
mmmmm
UNIVERSITI
TEKNOLOGI
MARA
PEJABAT PENGARAH
Farina Nozakiah Tazijan
Akademi Pengajian Bahasa
Universiti Teknologi MARA
Pulau Pinang
Jalan Permatang Pauh
13500 Permatang Pauh
Pulau Pinang
Tel : 04-3823441(RMU)/3822706(AM)
Faks: 04-3822812
email: yusli662@ppinang.uitm.edu.my
Puan,
KELULUSAN PERMOHONAN UNTUK MENJALANKAN PROJEK PENYELIDIKAN Dl
BAWAH SKIM DANA KECEMERLANGAN
Perkara di atas adalah dirujuk.
Sukacita dimaklumkan permohonan puan untuk menjalankan penyelidikan telah dinilai
dalam Mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Teknikal Unit Pengurusan Penyelidikan (RMU) Universiti
Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Kampus Pulau Pinang yang telah diadakan pada 2 Julai 2008.
Butiran permohonan yang dinilai adalah seperti berikut:
Ketua Projek
Ahli Projek
Tajuk Penyelidikan
Keputusan
Tempoh
Farina Nozakiah Tazijan
Suzana Abd. Rahim
Aznizah Hussin
identifying UiTM Penang Faculty Of Hotel Management
And Tourism Students': Needs In English Language
Proficiency
Diluluskan dengan peruntukan RM 2,500.00
September 2008 - Oktober 2009
Berikut disertakan dokumen-dokumen untuk panduan dan tindakan pihak puan selanjutnya.
1. Perjanjian bagi menjalankan Projek Penyelidikan, sila isi dan
kembalikan kepada pihak kami untuk ditandatangani oleh pihak seterusnya.
2. Borang laporan kemajuan yang perlu dikemukakan kepada pihak kami
setiap empat (4) bulan.
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4. Sehubungan dengan itu, pihak kami berharap agar perlaksanaan projek ini akan berjalan
sebagaimana dijadualkan. Semoga usaha puan akan membawa RMU ke arah
kecemerlangan akademik yang diharapkan.
Sekian, terima kasih
Yang menjalankan ti
(PROF. MADYA MOHD ZAKI BIN ABDULLAH)
Pengarah Kampus
UiTM Cawangan Pulau Pinang
s.k> i) Penolong Naib Canselor
Institut Pengurusan Penyelidikan (RMI)
UiTM Malaysia
ii) Timbalan Pengarah HEA
UiTM Kampus Pulau Pinang
iii) Penolong Bendahari
UiTM Kampus Pulau Pinang
iv) Koordinatoor
Unit Pengurusan Penyelidikan(RMU)
v) Fail Peribadi
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5. Tarikh : 30 DIS 2009
No. Fail Projek : 600-UiTMPP (URDC: 5/2/267)
Penolong Naib Canselor (Penyelidikan)
Institut Penglirusan Penyelidikan (RMI)
UiTM, Shah Alam
Puan,
LAPORAN AKHIR PENYELIDIKAN IDENTIFYING UITM PENANG FACULTY
OF HOTEL MANAGEMENT AND TOURISM STUDENTS' NEEDS IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY (VERBAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS)
Merujuk kepada perkara di atas, bersama-sama ini disertakan 4 (empat) naskah
dan 1 (satu) CD (softcopy) Laporan Akhir Penyelidikan bertajuk Identifying Uitm
Penang Faculty Of Hotel Management And Tourism Students' Needs In English
Language Proficiency (Verbal Communication Skills) oleh kumpulan Penyelidik
dan Akademi Pengajian Bahasa untuk makluman pihak puan,
Sekian, terima kasih.
Yang benar,
FApflNA NdzAKIAH^TAZIJAN
Ketua
Projek Penyelidikan
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6. KUMPULAN PENYELIDIK
FARINA NOZAKIAH TAZIJAN
KETUA PROJEK
Tandatangan
SUZANA AB. RAHIM
Ahli
•"""""TVtf £ -Try) > ? / K ^ - — .
Tandatangan
AZNIZAH HUSSIN
Ahli
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7. PENGHARGAAN
Setinggi-tinggi penghargaan dan ribuan terima kasih diucapkan kepada
semua pihak yang terlibat secara langsung dan tidak langsung bagi
membolehkan penyelidikan ini disiapkan dengan sempurna.
Diantaranya :
Prof. Madya Mohd Zaki Abdullah
(Pengarah Kampus UiTM Pulau Pinang)
Dr. Nor Aziah Bakhari
(KoordinatorPengurusan Penyelidikan UiTM Pulau Pinang)
dan
Semua yang telah memberikan kerjasama dan sokongan di dalam menjayakan
penyelidikan ini
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8. LIST OF CONTENT
Acknowledgement
List of Content
List of Tables
List of Figures
Abstract
Chapter 1
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
Introduction
Background of study
Problem Statement
Objective
Limitation of the study
Chapter 2
2.0
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
Introduction
The Importance of Communication skills
amongst Undergraduates
Needs Analysis and English for
Specific Purposes
Empirical Research on Needs Analysis
and Working Environment
Relevance of Communication Skills for
the Front Office Assistants
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9. LIST OF CONTENT
Chapter 3
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Methodology
3.2 Respondents
Chapter 4
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Presentation and Analysis of data
4.2 The Managers' Perceptions On The Needs Of
Communication Skills For Practising Hotel Front
Office Assistants
4.3 Managers' Rate Of Intern's Ability In
Verbal Communication Skills
4.4 Managers' View Of The Importance Of
Verbal Communication Skills For Front
Office Assistants
4.5 The Interns' Perception On Their Ability In
Verbal Communication Skills
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10. LIST OF CONTENT PAGE
PAGE
4.6 The Interns' Rate On The Relevance Of Verbal Communication
Skills For Front Office Assistants 29
4.7 Conclusion 32
Chapter 5
5.0 Introduction 34
5.1 Principal Findings 34
5.2 Recommendations for further research 37
References 39
Appendices 44
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11. LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 - Managers' Rate Of Interns' Ability In
Verbal Communication Skills
Table 2 -Managers' View Of The Importance Of
Verbal Communication Skills For Hotel
Front -Office Assistants
Table 3- The Interns' Perception On Their Ability In
Verbal Communication Skills
Table 4 - The Interns5
Rate On The Relevance Of
Verbal Communication Skills To The Hotel
Front-Office Assistant
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12. LIST OF FIGURES PAGE
Figure 1: Venn diagram of Communication Skills 15
(Mehta and Mehta 2007)
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13. ABSTRACT
There is a need to expose the learners in the hospitality industry to real workplace
requirement in terms of communication skills. In view of its importance, human resource
managers, researchers and educators in the field of hospitality management or the hotel
practitioners have to pay more serious attention to it. Thus, it is pertinent that both
employers and potential employees have a consensus on what are to be instilled in the
learners as this would prepare them for the actual hotel reception practices which in
particular are the verbal communication skills. This study looks at both the employers'
and employees' perceptions and expectations of the communication skills required by the
profession. A needs analysis in the form of a questionnaire, distributed to the hotel
managers and the interns involved help to identify the verbal communication skills that
the interns seem to require. The results highlight the views of employers in identifying
the needs and lacks of the interns under their supervision. In bridging the gap of
communication skills expected by the hospitality industry and the competence or ability
of the interns, it is of priority that the lacks and needs ofthese interns be looked into. This
study also has identified the students' perceptions of their language needs, wants and
lacks in the verbal communication skills so as to prepare them for their real world
workplace requirement This knowledge is hoped to assist the curriculum designers in
producing future hotel manageffient professionals that can function effectively at their
workplace.
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14. CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses on the background of the study, problem statement
and limitation of the study.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Due to the longstanding system implemented in government institutes of
education, graduates are consistently taught the ropes of hard skills, encompassing of
technical and administrative knowledge. The Education Ministry in its National
Education Blueprint 2006-2011 aimed was to create human capital suitable for a future
workforce. It will now embark on educational programmes that would include curriculum
and co-curricular activities that will instill knowledge, skills, cultural elements and belief
to help develop an all-rounder graduate.
This means that there is now room for soft skills training. In this global
community, the skill sets of a job candidate is increasingly crucial as employers are now
seeking for individuals who can deliver beyond what is promised on paper qualifications.
Impressive grades and other academic achievements no longer live up to the burgeoning
need for the skills to communicate lead and work in a team. Demands and expectations
across job industries are rapidly increasing.
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15. According to the findings of a Graduate Tracer Study in 2006, 30.7% of
graduates remained unemployed six months after convocation, while 57% were still
awaiting job placement. The study involved 132 900 graduates from 18 public
universities, 18 According to the findings of a Graduate Tracer Study in 2006, 30.7% of
graduates remained unemployed six months after convocation, while 5.7% were still
awaiting job placement. The study involved 132 900 graduates from 18 public
universities, 18 polytechnics, 34 community colleges and 13 private institutions of higher
learning from all over Malaysia. (New Strait Times, 2007)
Many factors have been identified as being the causes for the increase in the
unemployment rate among university graduates. Having straightc
As' is no longer enough
to secure a job or to give one a competitive edge is career advancement. According to the
Minister of Human Resources, more than 65% of female graduates in this country are
employed because they lack social and communication skills in addition to a poor
command of language and low levels of self confidence. He added that many female
graduates had achieved excellent academic results but could not secure employment
without the relevant skills required in the labor market. The number of unemployed
female graduates is also much higher in comparison male graduates (The Star. 2005).
It has been assumed that the lack of experience and skills are the causes
leading to the unemployment of graduated. In Malaysia, the private sector today is not
interested in recruiting local graduates because they lack several important skills, such as
the capacity to communicate well in English, a lack of ICT proficiency; and a lack of
interpersonal skills. This scenario reveals that, there is a skills gap between what skills
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16. are required by employers and what skills graduates have. In order to remedy the
situation, the Malaysian government has implemented several steps in order to reduce the
number of unemployed graduates. The Ministry Of Human Resources, through their
industry training institute has introduced a programmed referred to as "unemployed
graduates training scheme1
in order to equip fresh graduates with certain skills and
experience. They have allocated roughly RM 500 million towards the scheme.
However, according to the Minister, only 1400 graduates have been
employed after participating in the aforementioned training scheme. Suitable degree
programs are not the only mechanisms for developing work skills in higher education.
Students are encouraged to take part in extra curricular activities which may assist them
in developing soft skills. It is important for a student to begin accumulating as much work
related experience (soft skills) as early as they can. Soft skills are generally categorized
into three areas; character, interpersonal skill and critical and creative thinking. These
skills enable one to communicate effectively, manage relationships, lead a team, and
solve problems. Soft skill development should be inculcated into the education syllabus.
It is important to teach soft skills required to survive and succeed in the work market.
University Technology MARA requires its students to fulfill 9 credit hours
of English Language over 3 years of diploma course. The Hotel Management students,
however, are required to complete 12 hours of the English Language program within their
diploma courses. They are requested to undergo BEL100, BEL 200, BEL 250 and BEL
300. Apart from English Language courses, these students also need to fulfill their Hotel
Management papers, then undergo a 4 months of internship program at the industry
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17. before completing their diploma. The English Language codes offer the listening,
speaking, writing, grammar and reading skills to the students. The BEL 300 course
focuses more on the soft skills or the communication skills of the students, as in
presentation skills, answering calls, introducing colleague and other soft skills to equip
the students for their internship, hence, the working world.
The Penang MARA University Technology provides a list of hotels for
students to choose for their internship program. 5 ,4 and 3- stars hotels and resorts
through out Malaysia are selected for the students to help them to undergo their
practical. Most of the interns are asked to be front office assistants in these hotels.
According to Chan (2000), the hotel industry is one that requires employees to be
skilled in providing customer service through the medium of English. To do this
effectively an employee especially one who has constant contact with customers, has to
be proficient in English Language Skills. In a research carried out by the Educational
Institute of the American Hotels and Motels Association in 1996, it was found that:
Training could most improve the front office department, followed by the
food^everage service and housekeeping departments. Forty -four percent of
respondents cited the front office department as the 'first priority5
to receive training.
These findings showed that competence in human relation/guest relation is considered
the most important area that requires training.
Although this research was conducted in U.S, but it is safe to say that such
training skills are important to hotels in Malaysia. (Chan 2000)Therefore, questions are
raised to find out whether the interns who are front office assistants are proficient in the
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18. English Language of which they have been acquiring for almost 2 years during their
diploma studies.
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT
It is strongly believed that there is a mismatch between employers'
expectations and employees' or even potential employees' communication skills or soft
skills. This has somehow suggested that there is a great possibility that this curriculum
has not been effective or successful enough in moulding the level of competence among
the potential employees who happen to be the UiTM Tourism and Hotel management
undergraduates. Therefore, there is a dire need to study the learners' needs, wants and
lacks to match the future of their profession as they use the English language in their
profession.
1.3 OBJECTIVE
The main objectives of the research are to research is to investigate the
communication skills needs of the Front Office Assistants in relevance to their workplace
requirements.
1.4 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This study is limited to only UiTM Penang Hotel Management diploma
students' part 4 and 5 who are undergoing their internship as front office assistants in the
Hotel Management Industry .This study also limits to the area verbal communication
skills.
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19. CHAPTER 2
2.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the background of the communication skills of the
Undergraduates, Need analysis and English for Specific Purposes, empirical research on
needs analysis and working environment and relevance of communication skills for the
front office assistants
2.1 THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS AMONGST
UNDERGRADUATES
Graduates are often believed to be less prepared than industry employers
expect them to be and "lack the critical soft skills necessary in today's workplace". In
addition, the very skills that are said to make a graduate more employable are often
downplayed in favour of the technical knowledge. Technical knowledge is fundamental
and its importance cannot be disputed, as this forms the general basis from which
hoteliers work. However, technical knowledge alone does not distinguish the best
graduate student from the rest. According to the recent survey in The Star Online as cited
in Azizan ( 2007), it was stated that,
With an estimated 100,000 students set to graduate from public
universities this year - not counting the thousands completing
their studies at private institutions and overseas - the company
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20. above should not have a problemfindinga suitable candidate
to fill its vacancy. Unfortunately, as many employers have
often complained, most Malaysian graduates lack the
necessary soft skills vital for work such as communication,
problem solving and team work skills.
Adding to this Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakar, "it
is this lack of soft skills which is largely responsible for the difficulty faced by some
90,000 young people in finding employment in Malaysia"(Azizan, 2007).
Therefore, it is seen that Soft skills are complementary to the hard, technical skills
and are an advantage to any graduate seeking employment. This is particularly so as
current and graduate students are to become socially responsible and able to fit in with a
changing environment where new skills are required, due to technological developments.
A lack of skills therefore, could see a decline in organizational performance.
In Malaysia, productivity and economic performance is crucial to national
development. Hence, the premium placed on skilled graduates entering the workplace. It
is, however, reported that there is a deficit in the soft skills of Malaysian graduates. This
often contributes to and results in a lack of successfiil employment. Poor communication
skills, for example, create a negative impression with employers during the recruitment
phase and may exclude a graduate with good technical skills from being selected for
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21. employment. The language of communication at most higher education institutions and
industries is English. Many Malaysian graduates who are English second language
speakers may be perceived as expressing their ideas poorly, in English.
Thus, for many Malaysian graduate students it is important to acquire adequate
"soft" skills, particularly communication skills (in English) that will make them more
employable, in addition to technical skills, since these skills are generally expected to be
acquired at Higher Education institutions.
2.2 NEEDS ANALYSIS AND ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
Needs analysis is considered as one of they stages toward designing ESP courses
(Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998).There has however, been a tendency among teachers
and curriculum designers to 'intuit' learners' need and their future language use rather
than carrying out a proper need analysis. As pointed by Roe (1993) there are ESP
teachers "who have never been near the place where the target language is spoken". It is
essential that ESP practitioners constantly examine the tasks students have to perform at
target situations in which they will operate (Johns, 1991). Needs analysis is perceived
essential as the more we know of the situations, the communicative purposes and the
expectations of the targeted discourse communities, the more relevant would the ESP
course be (Harvey, 1984).
According Burnett (1997) to English for specific purpose, or ESP for short, is a
pedagogy in which the syllabus, contents and methods are determined according to the
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22. needs of learners' specialized subjects. Ever since 1950s, EST has experienced several
phases of development. At first, people tried to establish the Syllabus and curriculum of
EST through register analysis, that is, according to the features of grammar and
vocabulary of the language used in certain specialty. Target situation analysis held that
the purpose of an ESP course is to enable learners to function adequately in a target
situation. Therefore the ESP course design should proceed by identifying the target
situation first, and then carrying out a rigorous analysis of the linguistic features of that
situation. The process is usually known as needs analysis.
Based on the generalization commitment of cognitive linguistics, which seeks the
general principles of language phenomena, the skills-centered approach holds that
"underlying all language use there are common reasoning and interpreting processes,
which, regardless of the surface forms, enable us to extract meaning from discourse."
(Hutchinson, 1987). "There is a core of language which can be identified as "academic"
and which is not subject-specific" (Chitravelu, 1980).
ESP practitioners contend that new techniques must be constantly developed to
examine learner's needs (John 1991).There has been a line of research on need analysis
with various techniques and approaches - among the earliest was developed by Munby
(1978).The principal concern in Munby's analysis of learners' need analysis is the
workplace (the target situation). According to Harvey (1984), the target situation analyses
are perceived as necessary because, "it (is) by analyzing the activities the learner (will) be
required to perform in the foreign language that the course designer is able to determine
the kinds of language and language related skills the students (need) to be trained in"
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23. Taken from Chan (2000), "assessing needs in the single most important step in
designing human resource development efforts". An important part of needs assessment
is finding out what skills, content (subject -matter) and attitudes necessary for an
employee to successfully carry out his job are lacking. Job information can be obtained
by braking down a job into discrete units of activity (Lewe, 1990),This is noted as task
analysis. Through the task analysis, the researcher or the training designer will able to
obtain specific information on what an employee has to do in order to perform his job
well, following which the skills knowledge and other competencies can be specified,
Chan (2000) added that, approaches in the English Language need analyses
are many and varied, but ideas form the school of thought seem to converge on the idea
that analyzing what the learner has to do/perform in English is of paramount importance,
2.3 EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON NEEDS ANALYSIS AND WORKING
ENVIRONMENT
During the past 20 years, the explosion in business and communications
technology has revolutionized the field of English language teaching, and has radically
shifted the attention of course designers from teaching English for Academic purposes to
teaching English for more specialized purposes. In the last few years, first (LI) and
second (L2) language acquisition research into language teaching have led to an
increased interest in investigating the most effective ways of improving the ability of
workers in using English for specific purposes in the workplace.
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24. Several recent studies of ESP have provided evidence of the importance of
teaching English for specific purposes (Li So-mui and Mead, 2000; Edwards, 2000;
Lohiala-Salinen, 1996; Hutchinson and Waters, 1987). For example, it has been observed
that the type of language used by each worker is influenced by the worker's working
instrument (Pogner, 2003; Zak and Dudley-Evans, 1986), by his aims and professional
constraints, as well as by his specialization and the type of duties assigned to him, and by
the texts the worker produces and deals with (e.g., Edwards, 2000; Macintosh, 1990).
These educational studies have been developing in tandem with a recognition that
learning English for specific purposes play important roles in workers1
and administrators'
success in their fields of work and business environments.
Over the last few years, many researchers have offered a number of books and
articles bringing out new insights and approaches from different theoretical perspectives.
For instance, an important survey was conducted in Finland in 1998 by the National
Board of Education on the language and communication skills in the fields of industry
and business. It studied language or communication needs of industry and business
employees and was aimed at showing how language teaching could best equip students
with the skills required in professional life. The survey has revealed that compared with
engineers, employees in production jobs, installation and repair workers do not need to
use foreign languages as much as the members of the other group. However it is clear
that they have to read instructions, socialize and travel. They rarely get involved with
writing formal papers, giving presentations or negotiating. Reported in Viel (2002) the
study thus has shown that the need for oral communication overrides written skills
(reading and writing) in the first group, while the discrepancy in the second is smaller.
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