THE NEEDS OF ENGLISH COMPETENCY DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM PERSONNEL IN MUENG DISTRICT: CASE OF NAN PROVINCE

Abstract

The objectives of this research were 1) to survey the needs of English competency development of tourism personnel in Mueng District, Nan Province in terms of content and skills, and 2) to compare personal factors that affect the needs to develop English language proficiency of tourism personnel in Mueng District, Nan Province. The research instrument was a questionnaire on the needs of English competency development of tourism personnel in Mueng District, Nan Province. The sample of this study was 120 individuals involved in tourism activities in Mueng District, Nan Province. The research found that tourism personnel in Mueng District, Nan Province wanted to improve their speaking skills, listening skills, reading skills, and writing skills respectively. The needs to develop English content were the content of welcoming and invitations, describing places, greeting and introducing, giving suggestions, and giving locations and directions. Five personal factors that affected the needs to develop English language proficiency were age, occupation, education, experience, and purpose of using English. There was no difference in the factor of gender.