This study aimed to measure the English proficiency of 15 front office staff who worked at Hai An Beach Hotel Spa, questionnaire and interview were used as the research instruments in order to gather data. The questionnaire was divided into four parts: listening, speaking, writing and reading. The interview has 4 questions about frequency and difficulty in using English. The findings showed that the receptionists were able to communicate in English at a moderate level because they had difficulties in using English, such as pronunciation and specific terms. Speaking and listening were the most important skills in the workplace, while writing and reading were less important. Therefore, the receptionists should improve their speaking and listening skills the most in order to send effective messages to their customers. The data from the findings could improve the management of the hotel by helping the staff develop some important English skills. In addition, the findings could be useful for the management of the hotels.
INTRODUCTION
Rationale
Tourism has grown rapidly in recent years, becoming a leading economic sector that contributes significantly to the economic, cultural, political, and social development of many countries while also providing many jobs and wages to local residents With the advancement of international relations between countries, English plays an increasingly important role in the world and becomes an essential component of all businesses It can clearly be seen that the use of English as a second language has grown in popularity throughout the world, including the Vietnamese context, especially in the hospitality industries The most popular language, which is English, is required to facilitate effective communication among stakeholders of this field, which is English, for most contract communication or association, cooperation with other countries around the world. Furthermore, foreign language proficiency is becoming increasingly important for Vietnamese travel agencies People use English for communication, travel, cultural exchange, commerce, and a variety of other purposes Many people must learn English to stay competitive in their fields in order to keep up with the demands of modern society It is also expected that the number of international tourists visiting Vietnam from countries where English is the primary language of communication will increase in the future As a result, English communication skills are more important than ever More qualifications and skills are required, particularly for hotel staff.
In hotels, English is the most common language Every day, Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa must deal with more than 80% of international tourists.
As a result, Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa emphasizes on English language interviews and assessment of English-related abilities during the employment process The bulk of the hotel's employees, particularly the front desk personnel speak English well and competently However, some hotel receptionists' English remains poor, making communication with foreign guests difficult.
English has become the official language of the hotel industry With good English communication skills, the front desk department will understand and respond to what their customers need, allowing them to introduce, serve, and provide the needs of guests while also proving their worth Show professionalism and knowledge of customer psychology As a result, the quality of services and products will improve, and hotel's reputation will develop and grow After two months internship at the hotel's front desk, and with dedicated guidance from the instructor, the topic of the study was chosen is “AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE REAL SITUATION AND SOMESOLUTIONS FOR ENHANCING THE ENGLISH PROFICIENCY OF THERECEPTION DEPARTMENT AT HAI AN BEACH HOTEL & SPA'' for this graduation thesis.
Aims and Objectives
The research is finding out the needs of using English for the FrontDesk staff of Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa Receptionists are frequently required to speak English to communicate with foreign tourists English is essential for welcoming and greeting, providing information, giving directions as well as sharing about Vietnamese culture Furthermore,personnel encounter challenges such as a lack of confidence while communicating, a lack of vocabulary and grammar skills, and tourists from a variety of nations with varying speaking speeds In addition, they have diverse accents when speaking English, making listening and understanding more challenging This study will provide a solution to the concerns mentioned above in order to help enhance the English proficiency of the Front Desk Department.
The goal of this research is to survey and recommend solutions to improve the English proficiency of the front desk staff at Hai An Beach Hotel
& Spa The study focuses on determining the current state of the reception’s staff use of English in communicating with foreign guests, analyzing the current state of English proficiency in order to promote strengths and overcome weaknesses, and providing solutions Assist front-desk employees in improving their English skills.
Significance
The findings of this study are expected to provide knowledge and information about the English proficiency of the Reception Department, their use of English at work, and some difficulties they may encounter Also, it suggests some possible solutions to enhance English proficiency in theReception Department and how to overcome challenges at work.
Scope of the study
The purpose of this research is to improve the English skills of receptionists at Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa The study was conducted in 2 months (from March 16 to May 10) to identify the English ability and the importance of English for hotel receptionists as well as to provide some suggestions to help them enhance their English skills, which greatly contribute to the development of the hotel As a result, this topic is beneficial to the front desk staff at Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa.
Methodology
This current study aims to answer two following questions:
1 What is the English proficiency of Receptionists of Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa?
2 How important is English for the job as a receptionist of Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa?
The participants of this research were 15 hotel employees, ranging from
20 to 40 years old with different job positions in their hotel They were hotel managers, front desk officers, guest relation officers, and receptionists The participants of this study were informed clearly of all the information of this study and they all agreed to participate in the research All information in the collected data that may reveal participants' identities will be removed The research information will be kept confidential.
The questionnaire was divided into four parts with 53 questions The first part of the questionnaire has 3 questions to record some general information about the participants Participants are requested to give answers briefly about their name, age, and education level.
The second part of the questionnaire consists of 10 questions These questions relate to the necessity of using English, the importance of English in hotels
The third part of the questionnaire consists of 24 questions designed in the form of Likert scale The questions in this section indicate the frequency of English skills Likert scale is applied in the questionnaire as it allows the participants to easily choose the options reflecting their opinions Moreover,once all responses have been received, it would be easy to analyze them In the questionnaire, instead of being organized in clusters, these Likert scale items are mixed intentionally in order to receive the objective and unbiased viewpoint of the participants All the questions are to answer the 2 research questions
The fourth part has 16 questions that requested participants to answer about difficulties in using listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. These difficult questions are referenced from the research of (Nawamin Prachanant, 2012) Therefore, these difficulties are included in the questionnaire to test and consider their appropriateness for front desk staff.
This study's instruments are a questionnaire created with Google Forms All participants received the questionnaire by Email and directly from the researcher The questionnaire for participants included several questions about the importance of English proficiency in the front office and the issues that occur when they use English there.
The researcher offered 4 interview questions to various receptionists and managers in order for the participants to better grasp the nature of the interview, and received some suggestions such as shortening Interview questions and translating all questions from English to Vietnamese So all interview questions have been translated and rewritten to be more concise in Vietnamese
The average time of each interview is about 15 minutes All interviews were conducted in Vietnamese, live and recorded The researcher took notes and transcribed all the recordings after data collection, then translated them into English.
In summary, based on hotel permission, the researcher interviewed the front desk staff for about 10 to 15 minutes each, including using the first two minutes to get demographic information and 13 or 14 minutes for interview.
Therefore, the author was only able to conduct individual interviews with four receptionists at the hotel.
Organization of the Study
Chapter 1: Introduction which includes rationale, aims and objectives, scope of the study, method of the study and organization of the study
Chapter 5: Difficulties and Suggested Solutions
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Tourism in Vietnam
Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and a major source of foreign exchange and job creation for many countries. Vietnam's tourism is considered a spearhead economic sector due to the country's diverse and rich tourism potential Vietnam has a vast history of thousands of years, with a long history of traditional culture, monuments, rich and diversified landscapes, and many other tourist resources.
Tourism in Vietnam has gradually developed throughout the years, paralleling the country's rejuvenation According to the World Economic Forum's 2022 report, Vietnam's tourist development capacity index in 2021 ranks 52nd, up 8 places from 2019, and joins the group of one of three nations with the best growth rate in the world According to the National Administration of Tourism, the tourism industry in Vietnam contributed roughly 9.2% of the country's GDP in 2019 and created nearly 3 million jobs. International tourists up 16.2% from 2018 Vietnam has overtaken Indonesia to rank fourth in the ASEAN area in terms of international visitors, consistently among the countries with the world's fastest visitor growth rates. Vietnam is also one of the few countries recognized by UNESCO as a country with many heritages and landscapes that attract international tourists to travel.
However, there are still constraints in Vietnam's tourism business, such as a low rate of repeat visitors Because Vietnam's tourism offerings are unappealing, there is a scarcity of connectivity and entertainment options. Customer service services are not diverse, promotion and advertising activity is poor due to insufficient resources, an ineffective management system, and the absence of an international tourism promotion office The tourism development assistance fund has not been activated, the airport infrastructure is overburdened, unable to meet the high growth rate of visitors, and the entry visa policy remains limited in comparison to other directly competitive destinations like Thailand.
Some important definitions
English proficiency means the ability to make full use of language skills naturally and flexibly in various situations, including the ability to listen, speak, read and write Actual English proficiency is defined as a passing score on an English proficiency test Achieving proficiency in English takes a long time to achieve fluency.
English proficiency indicates a person's exceptional skill in using language in written or oral communication, indicating how a person understands and comprehends different English contexts and uses appropriate grammar rules It also demonstrates that you have confidently and effectively integrated the language into your daily life.
Each country has its own definition of a hotel, which is based on the state and development of the hotel industry.
Mr Morcel Gotie, a tourism and hotel researcher, describes a hotel as
"a place of temporary stay for guests, as well as a chamber and a restaurant of various grades" The hotel is built on a solid foundation, with multiple stories and bedrooms that are furnished with amenities and specialized furniture for commercial purposes such as lodging, catering, and other services The classification of hotels is based on their content and intended usage, such as temporary, convention, and tourism In addition, the hotel is rated from one to five stars based on the quality of service and comfort.
The hotel is a well-known lodging establishment all over the world, ensuring the quality and comfort required by the lodging industry. Furthermore, it meets a variety of eating, entertainment, and lodging service needs that are appropriate for the objective of the trip.
The hotel is a type of business that is founded and registered in order to profit under the provisions of the law.
In Vietnam, according to the Circular No.01/2001/TT-TCL dated August 24, 2000 of General Department of Tourism guiding the application of the Government’s Decree No.39/2000/ND-CP on tourist accommodation establishments clearly considers: “Hotel is an architectural building which is independently built with scale of 10 bedrooms or more, ensuring the quality of facilities, equipment and necessary services for tourists”.
English for Tourism
2.3.1 The popularity of English in Tourism in Vietnam
The reason for English to become popular is due to the influence of the United States and United Kingdom on many fields of economy, military, sciences, informatics, politics and culture Therefore, many countries around the world are required to learn English to work More than 250 million Chinese people speak and learn English in China, while high school students in Japan must complete six years of English instruction before graduation In Hong Kong, English is taught to 9 out of 10 students Vietnam has also incorporated English into the curriculum for students in grades
With the present trend of globalization, English is quickly becoming a global language that is widely utilized in many aspects of life According to aSavills Vietnam report, our country is one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in Southeast Asia, owing to a variety of positive variables such as the number of international tourists visiting each day The world's hotel brands are increasingly entering the Vietnamese market Furthermore, the World Tourism Organization rates Vietnam as one of the top five ASEAN countries in terms of foreign tourist arrivals, with an expected 8 million arrivals in 2015 and an annual growth rate of roughly 9% per year
Tourism personnel frequently have direct interaction with guests, therefore they have a role in developing the business's brand and image Food and entertainment services also require an employee to produce the invoice, English vouchers are available English is the worldwide language that facilitates communication between tourism employees and overseas customers Being fluent in English will allow you to effortlessly communicate with guests, allowing you to better understand their needs and serve them. Our country's tourism industry, in particular, is expanding and receiving an increasing number of international visitors As a result, not only professional qualifications but also excellent English communication skills are required of tourism personnel.
2.3.2 The importance of English in Tourism
As the EF English Proficiency Index 2022 edition states: “Language connects people Language is the bridge for us to share ideas, preserve knowledge and create culture This is true for any language, but English, because it is so widely spoken, has the potential to become a powerful driver of dialogue, diversity and inclusion in the next decade, if everyone has an equal opportunity to learn this language.” English is the most commonly spoken language on the planet For Vietnam's tourism industry, this is one of the reasons why business activities require workers to learn English, especially in the tourism and hospitality industry.
First and foremost, this is the most widely spoken language As a result, if you want to understand your customers' demands and exceed their expectations, English will be the "key" to open the door to communicating with foreign tourists, as well as an opportunity to assist foreign tourists You can learn more about diverse cultures, characters, and people from different countries.
Secondly, when traveling, you won't be concerned about getting lost in a different nation, ordering food confidently, or conversing with locals about their life With English, you have greater opportunities to work in areas that require fluency in this language, such as aviation, tourism, and film, ect.
Thirdly, in addition to abilities and professional expertise, English is a top recruitment criterion at travel companies, restaurants, 5-star hotels, and so on In fact, when personnel with English competence applied for a job, they were always offered a higher wage Recruiters require candidates that can communicate effectively and convincingly in all settings, as well as represent the organization in front of international clients English is a vital and necessary language for most non-English speaking countries to function professionally in the tourism sector.
Requirements for Tourism’s labour resources
In recent years, tourism has made numerous contributions to economic and social development in general According to the National Administration of Tourism, the number of jobs directly created by the tourism industry is 2.783 million (5.2% of total jobs), making it the industry with the highest demand for personnel (two to three times that of other key industries such as education, healthcare, and finance).
In fact, the current tourism labor force is inadequate in terms of structure, quality, and quantity More than half of tourism employees are very poor in foreign languages, which is a major restriction of tourism in Vietnam.
According to a study conducted by the Institute for Tourism Development Research (ITDR) on the foreign language proficiency of human resources in the tourism industry, English currently accounts for approximately 42% of the industry's human resources, with Chinese, French, and other languages accounting for 5%, 4%, and 9% of human resources, respectively As a result, the general need for the tourism labor force is training to increase the quality of the tourism labor force This is an urgent issue for each area and country's tourist growth, particularly in order to meet the criteria of ASEAN regional integration.
In the coming years, Vietnam's tourism development goal is to become an appealing destination in the area and around the world, as well as one of the top countries in Southeast Asia in terms of tourism development indicators To reach that goal, the quality of human resources serving in the tourism industry must be upgraded further, because developing high-quality human resources is a prerequisite for Vietnam's tourism to progressively reduce the gap with tourism History of developed countries throughout the world and in the region.
The front desk staff is the most important link between guests and the hotel Customers frequently form their first and lasting impressions of a hotel when they first meet and interact with the front desk staff.
The first requirement for front desk staff is to be fluent in English for general and English for tourism and hospitality Many hotels also require the front desk staff to be able to use other foreign languages besides the common language of English (such as French, Chinese, Japanese ) depending on the characteristics and main source of guests.
The following are specific requirements for the foreign language proficiency of front desk staff in star hotels:
1-2 star hotels: The front desk staff knows at least 1 foreign language, English and is able to communicate
3-star hotel: Staff fluently use 1 foreign language English.
4-star hotel: Reception staff must know 2 foreign languages, use English fluently and be able to communicate in a second foreign language.
5-star hotel: The front desk staff must be fluent in 2 foreign languages, of which 1 foreign language is English.
English for hotel receptionists
2.5.1 English proficiency of hotel receptionists
Nowadays, knowing English is nearly a requirement for landing a good job According to data released on August 1 by the General Department of Tourism (Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism), Vietnam welcomed 954,000 international visitors in the first seven months of 2022, an almost ninefold increase over the same period last year English is the second most common language in the tourism industry in Vietnam, after Chinese. However, there are some constraints.
Ms Kim Dung, owner of Bao Hung hotel (Cau Giay district) in Hanoi, shared: "When recruiting for the receptionist position, almost all candidates write that they have qualifications basic or intermediate foreign language skills are required However, when it comes time to serve customers, you are ashamed and unwilling to speak I believe you lack actual communication experience."
Front desk employees in large hotels, particularly those that frequently have foreign guests, must be almost native English proficient The hotel receptionists not only greet guests and assist them with processes, but they are also the people who convey Vietnamese culture to overseas acquaintances, either indirectly or directly The hotel receptionist's fluency in English is also an advantage for the hotel and delivers many benefits to our own country. Hotel front desk employees should ideally be fluent in at least two languages in order to converse effectively and professionally with international clients.
In general, hotel front desk workers in Vietnam can speak English but need to enhance their comprehension because due to weak foreign language skills, staff may mishear guests' notions While dealing with visitors from numerous non-native English speaking nations such as India, Korea, China, Italy, and others, many hotel front desk receptions struggle with different English accents, making effective communication extremely difficult.
2.5.2 The use of the English language for hotel receptionists
Charrunsri (2011) claimed in a study investigating the English learning needs and problems of hotel Front Office staff in Chinatown, Bangkok that speaking was the most important skill because it was used most of the time at the hotel Meanwhile, listening skill was considered the most problematic skill for the front desk staff in phone communications This is because their English levels are not enough to pick up the phones and they were not familiar with thick accents (e.g., Russian and Indian) and failed to understand some slangs.
Moreover, Kandampully and Suhartanto (2000) assert that the hotel staff that has high importance is the front office staff This is because front office staff deal with the requests and enquiries of the guests and are the ones who make the guests happy Therefore, to create a good first impression and lasting impression for the guests, the Front Office hotel staff must have goodEnglish communication skills for smooth service.
Prachanant (2012) also did a need analysis research on English Language used by employees in the Tourism industry The study surveyed the employees' English language needs The findings revealed that speaking is the most important skill among the other skills Some problems found were inability to understand foreigners‟ accents, inappropriate words and expressions, and lack of grammar knowledge.
Vu's (2015) study is one of the few qualitative studies undertaken in the Vietnamese context Investigate the communication tactics employed by front desk workers at numerous hotels in Vietnam Vu (2015) investigated how staff communicate with customers and discovered that receptionists frequently utilize communication methods such as repetition, reformulation, minimal enquiries, and word suggestions These are linguistic functions used by Vietnamese hotel receptionists to communicate with customers. Furthermore, the author contends that the materials and audio utilized in university English textbooks to practice hearing and speaking English are unrelated to the communication skills required in the hotel industry.
According to the investigation results of Miss PandaoChamnakit at the Boutique hotel, 96% of employees consider English to be frequently used in the workplace while the remaining 4% consider English to be infrequent. Speaking is the most necessary skill for receptionists working in the front office at the selected hotels in the Sukhumvit area because speaking skills can be used in order to solve problems, find solutions, and discuss the wants and needs of guests or clients
Davidoff (1994) points out that barriers create communication breakdowns – these barriers are either from verbal or non-verbal communication People who work closely with clients must have a high ability to convey messages or else the content will be lost Problems from language efficiency are the root of these problems Language barriers and individual differences also cause problems with communication Language barriers arise when people with different dialects communicate such as French to English and English to French The sentence structures are different between the languages and the compositions of the verbs are different, which may lead to major miscommunications between parties
According to a prior study by Christison and Krahnke (2004), which found that listening is the most challenging skill for hotel receptionists to master The reasons for the findings might be like those given by Maniruzzaman (2006), where pronunciation is a barrier; English consonants and vowels were highlighted as challenges that impede understanding Lertchalermtipakoon et al (2021) In this current study, hotel receptionists struggle with varied English accents while dealing with guests from various places who are not native English speakers As a result, according to Ratmanida et al., 2020, listening skill is the most important in this study as a sign for curriculum designers This suggests that students in the hotel sector must be fluent in English and be able to negotiate meaning with tourists to engage in discussions rather than say nothing due to misunderstanding (Blue
From the above research results, speaking and listening skills are still used mainly in the hotel industry The most used job activities were welcoming and greeting, listening to customers' wants, writing emails to guests, and reading hotel bookings It can see that certain barriers lead to failure of communication between the speaker and the listener Due to problems stated in this paper, the focus of this research was on the levels of the English of the staff in hotels as well as the problems they face.Minimization of communication barriers is the key to giving good service to foreign guests because effective communication is an important tool for people to succeed in their careers.
2.5.3 Problems in using English at work
Based on research by Alfian Azhar Yamin (2021) about the problems receptionists encountered when using English in their workplace, there are three main problems The first one is that they feel nervous when using English to communicate with guests They were afraid of making mistakes and the guest could not understand them The second problem is the lack of vocabulary and grammar knowledge The respondents felt that they lack vocabulary knowledge in English and it makes them struggle in using English language The last one is the difficulties to listen and understand some accent and pronunciation from guests As hotel guests come from different countries and they also have different accents when using English, it is sometimes hard for the respondents to understand what the guests are asking.
According to Miss PandaoChamnankit (2015) shows that most of the front desk staff have difficulty hearing Indians, Chinese speaking English, read long and non-specific words in messages, abbreviations, and take a long time to read an email from a customer Besides, they are quite worried about pronunciation as well as afraid of making mistakes.
Utilizing the findings of the preceding investigations, it was discovered that the difficulties faced by receptionists in using English at work arise from a lack of confidence, a lack of vocabulary, a fear of being ridiculed and misunderstood Because English is not commonly used in Vietnamese life,the receptionists often encountered difficulties in listening in their workplaces such as understanding guests’ accents and catching up with their speeds of talking, especially when dealing with guests’ complaints and telephone conversations Furthermore, receptionists must learn how to record and deliver information, particularly vital information to guests, to avoid unwanted misunderstandings When a guest does not speak English, the receptionist must rely on body language to deduce what the guest is saying.
An overview Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa
📬 Address: 278 Vo Nguyen Giap street, Son Tra district, Da Nang city, Vietnam.
HAIAN Beach Hotel & Spa established in 2018, consists of 21 floors nestling along the beautiful Danang coastline in Vietnam with equipment, internet access (free), non-smoking rooms/floors, air conditioning system, desk, wardrobe, clothes rack clothes, cable TV, safe, 24-hour room service and daily housekeeping, luggage storage and customer service, ect.
All 214 rooms are divided into many different room categories, capable of serving a wide range of customers The special thing is that most of the amenities in each room are fully equipped and coordinated harmoniously and delicately.
In addition to a modern bedroom system, the hotel is a wise new choice for professional and quality events and conferences The total area of more than 750m2 can accommodate up to 350 guests The hotel features a rooftop swimming pool with sweeping views from above towards the endless ocean, you will experience moments of relaxation and immerse yourself in the beauty of nature, beside the excellent cocktails
This accommodation has a gym and features 8 therapeutic spa rooms. Moreover, guests can also sip coffee with fragrant pastries or relax in the afternoon tea in a light and delicate space at the lobby The hotel is also a convenient place for adventurous travelers, nearby Hoi An ancient town, Hue Imperial City and My Son Sanctuary.
The Han River Bridge – 8 minutes
Da Nang International Airport – 20 minutes
Hoi An Ancient Town – 30 minutes
3.1.2 The Organization Chart of Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa
3.1.3 Functions and Roles of Each Department
General Manager and Executive Assistant
In the hotel, the General Manager holds the highest position The leader is responsible for operating the hotel, ensuring most activities in the hotel working with the best service and business efficiency General Manager promote talented staff, go into partnership and complete commitment goals with the management of the corporation and investors to maximize revenue and profit All activities or changes at the hotel must be approved by the General Manager.
The Executive Assistant plays an important role behind the General Manager in the hotel, who can take the responsibility in receiving official letters, records, documents from most departments in the hotel to submit tasks meeting the General Director with approval
The Receptionist department is the first part in contact with guests, giving guests initial impressions about the hotel, about the service quality of the hotel At this place, guests come to book rooms, register hotels, exchange information, make payment, check-out, The front desk is the place where all activities of the hotel are gathered Therefore, this department plays an important role in the hotel business and is considered as the brain of the hotel.
This department is considered as a bridge between guests and the hotel's service departments to provide hotel products and services, satisfying the needs of guests During the reception and service of guests, the front desk department provides information on services for guests: food and beverage services, accommodation services, entertainment services and other services. This department plays the role in representing the hotel in expanding the relationships, joint ventures, and links in attracting guests to the hotel.
Conducting market research, propaganda, promotion and product introduction of the hotel at home and abroad in order to attract guests and maximize profits Research the tastes and characteristics of the nationality and religion of the guests Performing affiliate contracts with travel agencies and hotels in the country Advise the director on business activities and set out business directions and strategies, propose measures to recover weaknesses and promote advantages in business Search for customers, conference booking, seminar, party etc Assume the reservation for customers through regular contact with the receptionist and housekeeping department.Responsible for finding and developing customers Implementation of trade promotion, advertising campaigns and external relations Ensure revenue and room capacity for the hotel.
This department maintains all the financial transactions Accounting departments typically handle a variety of important tasks Such tasks often include invoicing customers, accounts receivable monitoring and collections, account reconciliations, payables processing, consolidation of multiple entities under common ownership, budgeting, periodic financial reporting as well as financial analysis.
Also common are setting up adequate internal controls for all business processes, handling external audits and dealing with banks in order to obtain financing Taxes are sometimes handled by accounting departments in house, but this work is often contracted to outside tax accountants.
The housekeeping department is responsible for the cleanliness, maintenance, and aesthetic upkeep of rooms, public areas, back areas, and surroundings in a hotel and for the immaculate care and upkeep of all guest rooms and public spaces at all the time.
Food and beverage department contributes a great deal to the profits for the hotel The hotel’s restaurant is a part of food and beverage department. This department serves the food and drink needs of customers, serving mainly: tourists, visitors, conference guests, weddings, births, festivals, etc. The restaurant serves both Western and Vietnamese delights, along with refreshing drinks In addition, the restaurant works all day of week with the morning buffet from 6:30 am to 9:00 am Guests can also have breakfast every morning in the restaurant.
The Engineering Department is responsible for ensuring that all systems and equipment are in good condition and uninterrupted Plan and execute routine and preventive maintenance for the engineering system. Identify and warn the unit's risks during operation, propose and implement measures to prevent incidents and minimize risks Organize, manage and operate all activities of the Engineering Department
The security department will ensure security for the hotel, protect the lives, property of employees and guests during their stay at the hotel The Security Manager will be responsible for directing the department's activities to ensure the safety of people and property, guests and employees of the hotel.
Introduction about The Front Office Department
3.2.1 Introduction about The Front Office Department
Like other hotels, the front desk department of HAIAN Beach Hotel & Spa is one of the most important factors in the development of the hotel The Front Office Department is responsible for the following:
+ Welcoming guests and check-in procedures
+ Helping and answering all inquiries and difficulties of customers + Performing cashiering tasks such as bill/invoice settlement, charging guests, paying out payments, foreign currency exchange, and so on.
+ Working closely with the housekeeping department to keep room status reports up to date and to coordinate maintenance and repair requests. + Knowing all safety and emergency procedures and accident prevention policies.
+ Staying in touch by phone and handling bookings via email.
3.2.2 Framework Organization of the Front Office Department
Figure 3.2: Front Office Department Organization
+ Being in charge of the Front Office Department's operations and management.
+ Organizing and planning activities and events.
+ Recruiting workers and resolving issues that arise.
+ Supervising the operations of the Reception and Guest Relations Departments.
+ Arranging work schedules for department staff.
+ Receiving information from others and addressing issues Guests' complaints.
+ Acknowledging, handling complaints and suggestions from the visitors to the hotel
+ Being responsible for direct supervision of staff in the
+ Organizing the department's staffs' daily arrangements.
+ Organizing rooms prior to arrival.
+ Checking in and out of rooms for visitors.
+ Receiving reservations for walk in visitors.
+ Exchanging foreign currencies for visitors.
+ Being responsible for direct supervision of workers in the hotel.
+ Receiving guests’ luggage at their request.
+ Delivering luggage, packages to rooms for guests.
+ Being in charge of buggy transportation for guests staying at the hotel.
Services products of hotel
There are three main service products of Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa : Accommodation service, Food and Beverage Service and Additional Service.
Accommodation service plays an important role in the hotel business in general and Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa in particular This is the main service of the hotel that the customers use usually and evaluate the quality so that they decide whether to continue using the service at the hotel again or not.There are 212 rooms of international standards with modern style design,taking full advantage of the sea, overlooking the sea and the vibrant city,providing a sense of comfort, relaxation, and comfort for business trips, with five types of rooms: Junior, Superior, Deluxe, Suite, Royal Penthouse.
Table 3.1 : Types of Room at Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa
Types of Room View Area/ m2
Royal Penthouse (2 bedrooms) Partial Ocean 75 5.800.000
In addition to accommodation services, food and beverage services are equally important factors in assessing the quality of service at the hotel for each traveler Delicious food or special drinks will contribute to increasing the level of satisfaction of visitors to the hotel
In addition to the above services, the hotel also offers many other additional services to help meet the increasing needs of guests.
The swimming pool is located on the 22th floor, next to the Sky Bar
This is an ideal place for guests to relax and take pictures with panoramic city views There is also a furniture area located in the middle of the pool, close to the window so that guests can enjoy special drinks while admiring the panoramic city scenery.
The gym has a decent number of treadmills and pulley machines The gym has a variety of modern and varied machines -
The spa has variant rooms including connecting room, single room, single room with bay view and ocean view Guests will find this service- oriented hotel with superb facilities and amenities provides excellent value
Extremely large room with many luxurious furniture, special events and so on will be organized in this room
ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
Participants’s information of Front Office Department
Participants of the research are 15 staff ( 6 males and 9 females) including five managers from the front desk department, most of them were foreign language students from colleges and universities such as University of Foreign Languages, Duy Tan University, and Danang Tourism College Three out of fifteen participants used to major in tourism and their foreign languages are English, Korean and Chinese, 10 participants specialized in English language With the background of studying English as a major and international exchange experience, the participants tended to thoroughly understand the questions and provide valuable information for the study.
In this study, no subjects were referred to by their real names The pseudonyms are used instead to help protect the privacy of the participants.The table below provides more information about the participants.
Table 4.1 : Participants’s information of Front Office Department
According to table 4.1, 33% are male and 67% are female As a result, there was a high presence of people at a young age working in this department The participants are mostly 18 - 30 years old who are newcomers or recent graduates.
This survey divides hotel receptionists into 3 age groups: 18 to 30, 31 to 40 and over 40 The results show that 93% of the respondents are between the ages of 18 and 30 7% of those respondents were between the ages of 31 and 40 and none of the respondents were over 40 years old.
The survey divided education into three categories: university, college and intermediate Most receptionists (80%) had bachelor's degrees, 20% had associate's degrees, and no one had an education greater than a bachelor's degree.
Figure 4.1: Work Experience of participants
Figure 4.1 shows the work experience of the participants A total of87% worked for less than a year 13% had worked for 1 to 3 years, and none had worked for 3 years or more They are all young, dynamic and creative workforce But not much experience yet Some people work as department heads or supervisors, they are people who have worked for many years in the reception department as well as in the hotel, and have a lot of experience.
General information about the use of English of Reception Department
Figure 4.2: English certificate of Receptionists
According to figure 4.2, it can be seen that all participants have at least one English certificate Particularly, 5 receptionists have TOEIC, 5 receptionists have TOEFL, 4 receptionists have IELTS, and 1 receptionist has other certificates So English proficiency is adequate for their work performance at the hotel
Very Important Important Neutral Unimportant Very Unimportant
Figure 4.3: The Importance of English Language Use in the Hotel Industry
As shown in Figure 4.3, English language use is very important in the Hotel industry 67% of the participants rated english language skill as very important that they should be mastered 20% participants rated english language use as important and 13% rated as neutral Based on this result, English Language is one of the skills that Hotel staff should have.
Figure 4.4: Frequency of using English Language
Figure 4.4 shows the frequency of using English in the working environment of the receptionist 56 % and 19% of the participants rated often and always this work, 25% rated sometimes No one rated that they rarely and never use English This result shows that English is the most frequently used language at work
What is your English certificate?
Figure 4.5: The English Language Skill Needed For A Receptionist
Figure 4.5 shows how language skill is needed by the participants.Based on the figure above it can be seen that all language skills are important.However, the participants rated that Speaking is the most needed language skill that they should master followed by Listening Writing and Reading were the least important language skills rated by the participants.
The frequency of English of Receptionist Department
4.3.1 The frequency of speaking activities
Table 4.2: The frequency and percentage of speaking activities
Giving instructions about the hotel
Explaining the mistakes about room facilities
(restaurants, traditions, tourist attractions, transportation)
Table 4.2 shows that the activities using speaking skills are mostly assessed at the frequency used when communicating with customers 100% participants consider welcoming and greeting are always necessary Giving instructions about the hotel and speaking by phone call are rated frequently by 87%, and sometimes by 13% Talking about Vietnamese culture, explaining the mistakes about room facilities and making recommendations (restaurants, traditions, tourist attractions, transportation) are 73% of the time, only about 13% are used infrequently No one thinks that using English speaking skills is not used
From this data shows, almost all activities of speaking are frequently used in the work of receptionists This is also consistent with the survey data from figure 4.5, which shows that speaking skill is the most important for receptionists Welcoming and greeting is also important because this is the first impression for clients who come The receptionists must always use our speaking skills to explain all difficulties and things to note to consumers from the moment staff meet them till send them off Speaking is important because they need to guide, escort, interact or communicate with others, especially with the foreign tourists who visit the tourist attractions all over Vietnam As a result, it is clear that speaking skills are the most frequently and crucially needed.
According to the interview, participants shared that receptionists often use speaking skills As participant 1 shared: “When the guests check in at the front desk, I usually ask their booking number and check information on the system Then, I start to do some simple tasks like confirming their booking and reminding them the time they check in and out.” Participant 2 said that:
“We have to introduce the hotel’s services to the guests when they stay at the hotel such as airport pick-up and shuttle to tourist destinations.” And participant 3 shared: “When the guests book the rooms, we need to introduce the differences between many types of hotel rooms (standard rooms, superior rooms, deluxe rooms, suites, and connecting rooms) We also explain these types of rooms when the guests book via phone calls.”
4.3.2 The frequency of listening activities
Table 4.3: The frequency and percentage of listening activities
Listening and understanding what the customers want
Listening to the customer’s complaint
Listening to personal details and information
Listening to native English tourists (British, American,
As can be seen from table 4.3, there were 88% of participants rated listening and understanding what the customers want, listening to the customer's complaint, listening to personal details and information, listening to phone calls are all used frequently, only 12% are used infrequently. Listening to native English tourists (British, American, and Australian) is considered regular by 76% of participants and occasional by 24% Listening to non-native English tourists (Korea, India, France, Singapore, China) accounts for 80% of the time, with the remaining 20% being on occasion. None of the participants rated it as not using listening skills at work.
The study shows that they possess good listening skills, the most required skill is listening to conversations on the phone They are able to pick up calls from clients requesting bookings or other enquiries about the hotel or tourist destinations Listening to the foreign tourist's enquiries is the most important because it is the key factor that leads reception employees to understand the things that the foreign tourists would need and want when they ask for tourism information Furthermore, the hotel has a large number ofEnglish-speaking native and non-native customers, thus the front desk personnel is frequently exposed to and hears English-speaking clients
4.3.3 The frequency of reading activities
Table 4.4: The frequency and percentage of reading activities
Reading brochures or tourism magazines and journals
From this table, it can be seen that reading skill is used frequently 69% of participants assessed their ability to read customer’s travel documents and read the hotel bookings as regular, 31% as infrequent 44% rated reading meeting minutes and emails from tourists as an occasional use, with 56% of users doing it on a regular basis 65% reading brochures or tourism magazines and journals as frequently, and 35% on occasion 75% regularly read customer messages, 25% only occasionally No one judges never to use English reading in all of the above activities.
As the results show that reading is also very often used by front desk staff, reading documents, booking or email are used often but reading messages from customers occurs most often This may be because reception employees must look for and read the tourist information when foreign tourists ask for more in-depth information about the tourist attractions. Moreover, tourism employees must read information that is often requested by foreign tourists, such as, the price and characteristics of souvenirs, foods and facilities Front desk staff must read the information requested by guests to easily help them.
4.3.4 The frequency of writing activities
Table 4.5: The frequency and percentage of writing activities
Writing email & responding email to customers
Chatting via applications such as Line, WhatsApp
Table 4.5 shows that writing is mostly rated frequently 87% of participants assessed their ability to write email & responding email to customers and write daily reports as regular, 13% as infrequent 17% writing thank-you letters and writing a congratulatory letter rated occasional use, with83% of users doing it on a regular basis 69% writing business formats as frequently, and 31% on occasion 75% regularly read customer messages,25% only occasionally None of the participants rated it as not using writing skills at work.
The results show that receptionists also frequently use writing skills, most of the participants rate their skills in writing and responding to emails, writing daily reports, writing thank you letters and greeting letters are used frequently Because these jobs are the daily tasks that need to be done by the front desk None of the participants assessed that they did not use writing skills in their work So, more or less writing skills are still used by receptionists.
One of the managers thought that writing is an important skill for a receptionist: “At least they need writing to fill out their application forms, write application letters, and write messages to the customers When I want to hire someone, I look at their application letter to determine if they can write properly Otherwise, they may cause a slew of issues while responding to guests' emails.”
In summary, the importance of the 4 skills is almost the same, but according to the analysis results, the amount of work required for each skill is different Speaking and listening skills are rated as the most used and most important Reading and writing skills are less important Listening and speaking skills that are used a lot take more time to improve and improve their skills.
DIFFICULTIES AND SOLUTIONS
Difficulties in enhancing the use of English of the Receptionist
5.1.1 Difficulties in using speaking skills
Table 5.1: Difficulties in using speaking skills
Difficulties in using speaking skills (N) Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Being unable to pronounce words and expressions correctly
Using inappropriate words and expressions in speaking
Lacking knowledge of grammar and structure
According to information table 5.1, the most common difficulty is lacking confidence in speaking, accounting for 81%, only 19% feeling less difficulty Followed by being unable to pronounce words and expressions correctly, lacking knowledge of grammar and structure are 56%, 59% respectively 33% using inappropriate words and expressions in speaking is rated as less difficult.
As mentioned, the participants are able to communicate on a daily basis but cannot pronounce words the right way People are used to the English spoken by the locals and therefore pronounce English words the local way but not the native way All the words being said have to be clearly spoken because in the hotel business, people are dealing with guests from all over the world And communication is the key to effectiveness If they are not able to pronounce words clearly, tourists or guests will have a hard time understanding what has been said Besides, the front desk staff lack confidence when communicating, they are afraid of saying the wrong structure, afraid that the listener will not know what they are saying.
When asked which skill is the most difficult for them, the interviewees share some difficulties they encounter that include vocabulary As participant
1 shared: “ I have difficulty in solving the guests’ complaints I was sometimes embarrassed because my speaking in this situation was not professional and clever enough in order to control the guests’ anger.” And participant 2 said that: “ I think speaking is my biggest problem I have learned a lot about technical terms that I use in the tourism industry, but when it comes to everyday-life conversations, sometimes I don’t know what to call basic objects in English For example, once I took a group of tourists for sightseeing and they were talking about parts of the boats I remember staying quiet the whole time as I was unable to engage in the conversation because of my limited vocabulary about boats.”
Beside, some grammar - related difficulties shared by participant 4 are:
“ I think grammar is one of the biggest problems I often find myself using words or phrases, rather than complete sentences I know basic vocabulary, but I don’t know how to use proper structures If you work at the front office here, grammar matters a lot as this is a four-star hotel and being able to use grammatically correct language is what we prioritize.”
Moreover, confidence is one of the biggest problems as participant 1 shared: “Oftentimes I’m not confident enough to initiate a conversation with foreign visitors I feel embarrassed whenever I make errors.” And participant
2 said that: “Confidence is very important and this is also what I lack I have trained a lot of interns and I think most of them really need to improve their confidence You just can’t hesitate a lot when communicating with foreign guests as it really affects our hotel image.”
5.1.2 Difficulties in using listening skills
Table 5.2: Difficulties in using listening skills
Difficulties in using listening skills (N) Neve r
Foreign tourists speaking too fast
Being unable to know the meaning of words
Lacking a chance to listen to English
Being unable to understand foreign accents
The above table demonstrates that they frequently have difficulties with foreign tourists speaking too fast and being unable to know the meaning of words accounting for 94%, only 6% having little difficulty 87% of participants rated being unable to understand foreign accents as difficult, 13% as less difficult 62% rated not lack the opportunity to listen to English.
However, it is clear that this group of participants needs development on specific listening such as listening to different accents and understanding the use of slang This is normal as people living in Vietnam are accustomed to a specific type of accent When travelers have thick accents from India,
England, or Russia, it makes understanding them harder In addition, hearing slang that isn‟t used on a daily basis will also cause a problem for understanding, as the front office staff doesn’t speak or understand specific words or slang.
Some participant said that speech pace is a big problem that makes it difficult for them to hear As participan 1 shared: “I usually have problems listening to guests who speak faster than usual, which makes it difficult to understand what they say even though I ask them to repeat.” And participant
2 said that: “I think one of the biggest problems I have experienced is when I listen to foreigners who speak fast I find it difficult to make sense of what they say I mean both native speakers and especially those who come from Europe.”
Beside, some accent - related difficulties shared by participant 1 are:
“The problem is the tourists who seek help from our organization come from many different countries That means they also have different accents, such as Japanese English, British English, or American English.During my time working at this hotel, I talked to a lot of tourists I remember having the hardest time listening to Indian English accents.” And participant 4 said that:
“To me, listening to foreign English accents is the biggest problem.Vietnamese people are more familiar with American accents, so when we listen to other accents like British, Filipino, Japanese, or French, we often have difficulty communicating with those who speak heavy foreign accents.”
5.1.3 Difficulties in using reading skills
Table 5.3: Difficulties in using reading skills
Difficulties in using reading skills (N) Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Unable to understand the vocabulary
According to information in Table 5.3, the most common difficulty is inability to understand the vocabulary, accounting for 69%, only 31% feel less difficult Next is reading Emails difficulty level is 56%, 44% is less difficult 40% of participants rated reading news and reading too long passages as having little difficulty, 40% as difficult
Table 5.3 shows again that people can read text from daily operations such as email and requests and demands from hotel guests What proves to be difficult are news articles because they use specific words and are harder to understand The highest reading request is the skill for reading news and official letters or text This is because during the working hours, people will have to read official texts as a form of news to forward to the team or to clients Beside, staff lack knowledge of vocabulary and inability to understand new words So it is very difficult to read an unfamiliar text, because there is a lot of vocabulary.
5.1.4 Difficulties in using writing skills (Nawamin Prachanant, 2012)
Table 5.4: Difficulties in using writing skills
Difficulties in using writing skills (N) Never Rarely Sometime s
Being unable to know how to write
Table 5.4 demonstrates the difficulties in writing that receptionists encounter The most difficult are lacking grammar knowledge and having inappropriate vocabulary accounting for 56%, only 44% think it is less difficult Being unable to know how to write is also rated 50% difficult, 50% less difficult 61% of participants assessed that there was lacking opportunity to write, only 39% rated it difficult Nobody rated these activities as easy.
Solutions to enhance the English proficiency of the Receptionist
The skill that is needed to be improved the most is speaking and listening This is because front office staff need speaking and listening skills because they are the first people whom these guests talk to once they arrive at the hotel They must be able to know what the client is talking about and are able to answer them clearly
In order to do this, people need to be more exposed to English not just at work, but even at home To be able to develop themselves even more and to understand certain slang words or even different accents will require hard practice The general and most used form that could help these people is to watch foreign movies on a daily basis or find a foreign friend who doesn’t speak the local language This is the most effective way in which people can push themselves to learn more about a langue that isn‟t their own
Regarding the results of the study, most receptionists in the hotels needed to improve their speaking and listening skill, which were the most problematic skill for them This is because they usually are in contact with people who are from different countries or have different nationalities The findings also showed the level of needs was very high in speaking skill but participants‟ had the ability to perform only at a moderate level
Even though the findings of this study showed that the receptionists believed that speaking was the most important skill for their career, the other skills were needed as well This is because the results showed that the receptionists were required to specialize in the four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing Therefore, it can be concluded that the four skills are important at the same level in order to be a professional and skillful receptionist
Regarding the four English language skills, there was no specificEnglish course organized at these 4- and 5-star hotels for improving theirEnglish speaking and listening skills Communicating with the guests at the front desk and in phone calls were the only ways that hotelfront desk staff could practice their speaking and listening skills The hotel should provide skills training and professional development for employees through professional classes.
In sum, according to the participants in this study, working in an environment where English isused most of the time, they obviously have the opportunity to use English However, they still needed to have to improve their speaking and listening with the focus on email writing and correspondence, answering phone calls, as well as presenting historical knowledge in English Besides, they considered it necessary to learn how to solve guests’ complaints.
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
Conclusions
This Need Analysis study showed that English Language Skill is an important skill for Hotel Staffs All of the language skill including Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking should be mastered However, based on the findings of this research, Speaking and Listening are the most important skill that Hotel Staffs need to learn Moreover, the speaking and listening skills for giving information about facilities and services around hotel is highly needed as pictured in the findings of this study followed by handling complaint.
Research through the actual situation and customer surveys help us have a broader view of the strengths and weaknesses of the hotel receptionist's English level I hope that the case study " ANINVESTIGATION INTO THE REAL SITUATION AND SOMESOLUTIONS FOR ENHANCING THE ENGLISH PROFICIENCY OF THERECEPTION DEPARTMENT AT HAI AN BEACH HOTEL & SPA " will help the hotel to have more ideas in improving their English level However,this topic is presented in limited knowledge and research time, so errors cannot be avoided I look forward to receiving suggestions from teachers to improve the graduation thesis.
Suggestions
6.2.1 Suggestions for the Front Desk Department
First, for tourism or hotel majors in college, they should spend more time practicing speaking and listening skills in order to be prepared for their future careers Besides, they should spend more time on their internships at the hotels since the findings of this research stated that the trainings at the hotel are more practical than those provided in the universities They should create some activities for learners to practice listening and speaking skills in order to help them reinforce these two skills.
Secondly, practicing how to deal with guests’ complaints and giving solutions Learning some tips about how to make polite, professional apologies when the guests are angry Futhermore, getting acquainted with accents from native and non-native Englishspeakers (Native speakers’ accents like British English and American English; non-native English accents like Indian English or English used by other Asian people can be included for practice)
Thirdly, learning vocabulary about local histories and global cultures. Local histories can be related to any popular tourist attractions near the hotel, global cultures can be related to some potential countries: France,England, USA, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and China
Finally, learning how to write emails, reply to guests’ emails, and learn some useful grammar in writing emails.
6.2.2 Suggestions for Faculty of English and Duy Tan University
Our university should make soft skills one of the major subjects for not only the foreign language department but also all other faculties, assisting students in equipping themselves with sufficient knowledge I hope the Faculty of English will have more foreign teachers to create more opportunities to interact, communicate as well as improve the English skills of students.
Futhermore, The Faculty of English has done a lot of things to guide the students during their study journey, as well as during the process of completing graduation thesis However, to the best of my knowledge, there are rarely tourism enterprises accepting and permitting internship students to work and learn at their companies For this reason, I really hope that the department can discuss and cooperate with more companies so students can have more opportunities to choose internship sites On the other hand, the faculty should prolong the internship term, so that students can have more time to practice and get more factual working experiences.
Throughout the course of the investigation, there was a number of limitations First, the number of people participating in the study was quite small, only 15 people Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa and the number of hotel staff participating in the study are not representative of the level of the tourism industry in Danang, they can only represent the hotel However, Hai
An Beach Hotel & Spa is an influential hotel, so it is hoped that the research results from the hotel can be applied to other hotels in Danang.
Secondly, due to time constraints, there may be some errors and delays in participant data and information.
Finally, because of these difficulties, if you want to find out, you can get more data, ask more questions or interview more closely.
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My name is Do Thị Thuy Duong I am currently a final-year English for Tourism student at Duy Tan University in Da Nang For six weeks, I worked as an intern in the Reception Department at Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa In reality, I need to get some feedback for my graduate paper As a result, I would be grateful if you could spend more time answering the numerous questions below Your feedback will help me with my research and, ultimately, improve the English proficiency of Reception Department at Hai
Thank you for your support and best regard.
1 What gender are you? a Male b Female c Others
2 How old are you? a 18 - 30 b 31 - 40 c More than 40
3 What is your education level? a University b College c Intermediate
PART 2: General information about the use of English of Reception Department
1 What position are you working in? a Receptionist b Front Office Supervisor c Front Office Manager d Guest Relation Officer
2 How long have you worked as a receptionist at Hai An Beach Hotel & Spa? a Less than 1 year b 1 - 3 years c 3 - 5 years d More than 5 years
3 What is the English certificate you have? a IELTS b TOEIC c TOEFL d Others
4 Is English necessary for your current job? a Very necessary b Necessary c Neutral d Unnecessary e Very unnecessary
5 How often do you use English in your work environment? a Never b Rarely c Sometimes d Often d Always
6 What is the most important skill required for a receptionist? a Listening skill b Speaking skill c Reading skill d Writing skill
7 How confident is the receptionist when communicating? a Very poor b Poor c Neutral d Good e Very good
8 Do you think English is important in the Hotel industry? a Very important b Important c Neutral d Unimportant e Very unimportant
9 How often do you use English when interacting with other departments in the hotel? a Never b Rarely c Sometimes d Often e Always
PART 3: The frequency of English of Receptionists
Frequency of the use of speaking skills
Giving instructions about the hotel
Explaining the mistakes about room facilities
(restaurants, traditions, tourist attractions, transportation, )
Frequency of the use of listening skills
Activities using listening skills Never Rarel y Sometime s Often Alway s
Listening and understanding what the customers want
Listening to the customer’s complaint
Listening to personal details and information
Listening to native English tourists (British, American,
Listening to non-native English tourists (Korea, India, France,
Frequency of the use of reading skills
Activities using reading skills Never Rarel y Sometime s Often Alway s
Reading brochures or tourism magazines and journals
Frequency of the use of writing skills
Activities using writing skills Never Rarel y Sometime s Often Alway s
Writing email & responding email to customers
Chatting via applications such as Line, WhatsApp
Writing note and filling out information
PART 4: Difficulties in enhancing the use of English of the Receptionist
Difficulties in using speaking skills
Difficulties in using speaking skills Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Being unable to pronounce words and expressions correctly
Using inappropriate words and expressions in speaking
Lacking knowledge of grammar and structure
Difficulties in using listening skills
Difficulties in using listening skills
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Foreign tourists speaking too fast
Being unable to know the meaning of words
Lacking a chance to listen to
Being unable to understand foreign accents
Difficulties in using reading skills
Difficulties in using reading skills Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Having inadequate vocabulary in reading
Unable to understand the vocabulary
Difficulties in using writing skills
Difficulties in using writing skills Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Being unable to know how to write
1 What English skills do you often use while working at the hotel?
2 What difficulties have you encountered in using English at work? What are some difficulties you have with speaking skills, listening skills, reading skills, writing skills?
3 Which skill is the most difficult?
4.Do you have any solutions to your own problems?