Capacity Building in Foreign Language and Tourism Learning for Elderly Students

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to 1) develop foreign language learning and tourism learning capacity and competency of elderly students; 2) compare the foreign language learning and the tourism learning capacity and competency of elderly students before and after participating in the program; 3) study the satisfaction level of elderly students after participating in the program. Population included elderly students aged 55 years or over. Sample comprised 50 members selected using purposive sampling technique. Data collection tools for this research consisted of 1) 8 lesson plans; 2) a five-point Likert Scale learning capacity and competency assessment form; 3) a 40-item assessment form for evaluating the capacity and competency in foreign language and tourism; a 20-item assessment form for evaluating the capacity and competency in foreign language with discriminating power of 0.25 - 0.78, item difficulty of 0.25 - 0.76 and reliability of 0.75 and a 20-item assessment form for evaluating the capacity and competency in tourism with discriminating power of 0.27 - 0.93, item difficulty of 0.37 - 0.86 and reliability of 0.89; and 4) a five-point Likert Scale questionnaire consisting of 12 questions for evaluating the satisfaction level on the capacity building program in foreign language and tourism learning with reliability of 0.93. Statistics used for data analysis included mean, standard deviation, percentage, and dependent sample t-test. The findings revealed that: 1) foreign language and tourism learning capacity and competency of elderly students was at high level; 2) the foreign language and tourism learning capacity and competency of elderly students after participating in the program showed a highly statistically significant increase at the .01 level; 3) the satisfaction level of elderly students over all was at the highest level.