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Target Situation Needs Analysis of Hotel Receptionists Zahra Masoumpanah Mohammad Hassan Tahririan
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motivation, proficiency level, learning style and strategies are different, along with the differences in teacher
s and context, i.e. because there is no homogeneity, there is no generalizability. ESP teachers’ responsibility is to find some materials that approximate the needs of the class as much as possible.
Can materials be modified to suit your purposes?
These three books need some modification to become appropriate to be used in the class. They are going to be used as sources of target situation
information for the students, so, they must be modified to suit the students’ needs.
Are the materials flexible in sequence and grading?
BOOK 1 appears to be more flexible than the other two books, as the units in BOOK 2 are interrelated and the structure of BOOK 3 is not
changeable or the exercises cannot be used in any other way or communicatively. BOOK 1, in this regard, is a good material which can be used because the content can be handled and taught in any
way according to students’ expectations and needs.
4. Discussion and Results
“Hotel
Front Office Management
” was recommended as core material, along with some exercises especially the listening exercises from
“You’re Welcome ”
as supplementary book, as well as, some grammatical exercises from
“English 3 For Students Of Tourism And Hotel Management” as assignment or workbook. The reason for this decision lies in the desire to add more language skill
practice to the course rather than limiting the students to only one skill. Using a combination of three books, it is assumed that learners would not be disappointed and that course objectives can be
fulfilled and their needs are met. Both “Hotel Front Office Management”, “You’re Welcome”, and
“English 3 For Students of Tourism And Hotel Management” are useful books for the
aforementioned course, but each of them needs some adaptation and modification. By examining their language, authenticity, flexibility, and appropriateness,
“Hotel Front Office Management” is preferable to
“English 3 For Students Of Tourism And Hotel Management”
.
However, “You’re
Welcome” contains a great deal of interactivity and provides students with many opportunities for simulation and role play.
“English 3 For Students o
f Tourism a
nd Hotel Management”
,
on the other hand, is culturally more appropriate for the context of use, for stude
nts’ proficiency level and can be used for self study.
But it doesn’t fulfill students’ need to know about other countries’ culture.
5. Conclusion and Suggestion for Further Research
As Brown 1995 states, needs must be stated in terms of goals and objectives, which, in turn, can serve as the bases for developing tests, materials, teaching activities, and evaluation strategies. In
other words, needs analysis is the foundation based on which we can develop curriculum content, materials, and teaching a
pproaches which may, in turn, enhance learners’ motivation and success.
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Target Situation Needs Analysis of Hotel Receptionists Zahra Masoumpanah Mohammad Hassan Tahririan
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With this in mind, Target situation needs of the students’ were analyzed in this study through observation and interview with the professionals in the workplace and learning situation, objectives
of the course were determined based on the needs analysis, and three ESP books were analyzed to investigate whether they meet the students’ needs or not.
So, English language is used by receptionists at the workplace and plays an important role in the career of tourism professionals. The students of tourism, who wish to work as hotel receptionists as
their future career, need knowledge of hotel management terminology, effective communications, property management systems, system wide reservations, guest registration, managing the financials,
guest checkout, managing hospitality, and training for hospitality. They need to get familiar with different cultures and customs and be fluent in speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
However, in ESP, a teacher who aims to fulfill the needs of learners may not find textbooks that accommodate all of these needs and objectives. Therefore, a teacher can use supplementary materials
to support the core textbook. Each book helps students achieve a goal and meets some of their target or present situation needs. So, instead of focusing on one book, several books are necessary each of
them meet some of the learners’ needs. But what should be taken into consideration is that we should do this in an organized way so that it
doesn’t make students confused and disappointed. Mixing the books haphazardly, without considering the philosophy behind each, may be more dangerous than helpful. Such a task needs
expertise and a large amount of experience, an organized syllabus and on-going evaluation of the students.
However, this work does not constitute a conclusive evaluation, since an empirical evaluation should follow this study in which pre-use evaluation can facilitate the textbook selection process by gaining
an impression as to the potential educational value of the textbook Tomlinson, 2003:23. Once the combination of the three books was recommended to the group of the participants, in a context,
evaluation should go on both during and at the end of the course. In-use evaluation can help examine the suitability of the textbook while using them or by observing how it is actually being used
Mukundan, 2007; Tomlinson, 2003:24. Lastly, post-use evaluation can help to assess comprehensively the short and long term implications of the continued use of the textbook McGrath,
2002; Tomlinson, 2003. However, post use evaluation can determine the success or failure of a textbook and “would help teacher decide whether to continue using the adapted text or to look for a
new on e”Skierso, 1991:441. In another study, following all these analyses and evaluation, a course
can be designed for the students of tourism.
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Target Situation Needs Analysis of Hotel Receptionists Zahra Masoumpanah Mohammad Hassan Tahririan
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REFERENCES Afzali, K., Fakharzadeh, M. 2009. A needs analysis survey: A case of tourism letter
writing in Iran.
ESP world, 1
22, 8. Retrieved June 21, 2013 from www.esp-world.info
