A Needs Analysis of Thai Massage Employees’ (Thai Massage Therapists, Receptionists, and Managers) English Communication Skills in the city of Pattaya, Chonburi

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Published: Dec 30, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.61508/refl.v27i2.248863
Keywords:
Need Analysis English Communication Skills Thai Massage Employees English for Specific Purpose (ESP)

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Parichat Chiablaem
Faculty of Management Sciences, Kasetsart University, Thailand

Abstract

English communication has gained its importance for Thai massage employees who are required to interact and provide massage services to foreign customers due to the popularity of Thai massage among foreigners. This study attempts to explore and analyze the needs and problems of Thai massage employees towards English communication in their workplaces located in Pattaya City, Thailand. This is a mixedmethodology research collecting data from 132 Thai massage employees through an online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with five Thai massage employees to obtain insight data and further information. The key findings show that speaking and listening skills are the most needed skills including English vocabulary knowledge. In terms of the
most problematic skills, speaking, listening, and writing respectively were rated as high while reading skill reported as moderate. According to the interview, the results reveal that English competency may not greatly affect the quality of Thai massage service; however, being able to use English properly increases customers’ satisfaction and reduces time for the employees to communicate with foreign customers. The findings also indicate that the Thai massage therapists use their body languages, pictures, and memorized English patterns and sample phrases to communicate with foreign customers as their solutions for English
communication problems. This research which was conducted under a fund of the Faculty of Management Sciences, Kasetsart University reports 
the needs and problems of these groups of people in order to design an English for Spa course based on English for Specific Purposes (ESP) principles to foster English communication skills for the Thai massage employees as well as for business students who are interested in ESP courses.

Article Details

How to Cite
Chiablaem, P. (2020). A Needs Analysis of Thai Massage Employees’ (Thai Massage Therapists, Receptionists, and Managers) English Communication Skills in the city of Pattaya, Chonburi. REFLections, 27(2), 274–292. https://doi.org/10.61508/refl.v27i2.248863
Issue
Vol. 27 No. 2 (2020): July - December
Section
Research articles

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