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As concierge personnel who deals in hospitality, learning a language is not only learning a set of grammatical structures but also a set of functions.
Furthermore, language is used to communicate with people and to cause things to be done, to describe and explain events. To communicate with people, to cause
things to be done, to describe and explain events are among the functions of language Halliday, 1978. In conclusion, being able to use language
appropriately in communication means that the hotel staff are likely to be able to create a pleasant atmosphere, which maintains the relationship with the guests.
1.2 Problem Identification
Concierge personnel usually remain in the front office that directly deals with guests. As personal guides, they represent the hotel. According to the
interview most of them do not receive basic English lessons, because they did not learn formally through special English schools, therefore their vocabulary mastery
also varies. They learnt English from their own daily experience and habitually while accompanying guests. Sometimes they speak English according to their
own version and sometimes the way they speak is just translating Indonesian sentences into English ones without considering grammar and correct
pronunciation. It is not rare for them to use gestures to explain what they want to say. Most of them have difficulty finding correct expressions when they produce
words without producing sentences. Their ability and knowledge to enable them to speak good English still needs improvement. One example is leaving a sentence
incomplete, such as ‘Sir, name?’, ‘there the water, Mom’. To improve this, a
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course, which emphasizes the needs of the learners to acquire the functions of language, should be established. This research, nevertheless, concerns a design for
integrated materials based on learners’ needs to meet guests’ demands for English proficiency as a personal guide.
1.3 Problem Limitation
A hotel company has a complex organization of management. Nevertheless, one division, which plays an outstanding role, is that of the hotel
front office, which consists of the front office manager, desk representative, night manager, cashier, reservationists, telephone operator, bell-boy and especially,
concierge personnel which only exist in five star hotels as personal guides Foster, 1992: 22. However, the main focus of the study is only on the concierge
personnel, because they, as personal guides, convey personality of the hotel to the guests and handle the guests’ needs during their stay. Therefore, it is necessary for
them to acquire sufficient communication ability. The language used by the concierge personnel is one important factor in
communication. This is due to the concierge personnel duties, which directly deal with the public as hotel guides.
The writer chooses integrated English instructional materials, according to their needs, for the concierge personnel who have to equip themselves with good
English skills, not only in speaking but also in writing, reading and listening.
1.4 Problem Formulation