Foreign Language Competency Development of Tour Guides in Geology and Fossils in the Northeast of Thailand

บทคัดย่อ

The objectives of this research were to design a foreign language curriculum for language competency development of tour guides in geology and fossils in the Northeast of Thailand based on the 80/80 standardized criteria efficiency, to compare the foreign language competency of the tour guides, to survey the opinions of the tour guides towards the foreign language curriculum and the opinions of tourists and tourism personnel towards the professional performance of the tour guides. The research methodology consisted of three steps: 1) curriculum design and development, 2) curriculum implementation and 3) evaluation. The population was seventy five students from the English Curriculum Program, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Rajabhat Maha Sarakham University who did a practical experience in 2/2009. The sample subjects were forty students from the English Curriculum Program selected by the simple random sampling technique. The research instruments were an English curriculum for the tour guides in geology and fossils in the Northeast of Thailand consisting of thirteen lessons, a listening test, a speaking test, thirteen lesson plans, an evaluation form for IOC and a form evaluating the appropriateness of the curriculum, as well as two sets of questionnaires. The research statistics used were percentage, mean, standard deviation and Repeated Measures MANOVA.

            Results of the research were as follows:

            In regard to the efficiency assessment of the qualified curriculum, it indicated that the average level of the curriculum efficiency consisting of 3 steps of the assessment: a1:1 experimental design, a small group design and a large group design was high ( = 4.7). The finding indicated that the value of the standardized criteria efficiency was 81.75/81.12%. The findings indicated that the average score of the post-test of the tour guides was significantly higher than that of the pre-test at the .05 level. The average scores of both listening and speaking skills of the post-test were significantly higher than those of the pre-test at the .05 level. Additionally, the findings indicated that the average opinion of the tour guides towards the English training curriculum was high ( = 4.38). The average opinion of the tourists and tourism personnel towards the professional performance of the tour guides was high.

In conclusion, the findings indicate that the model of foreign language competency development and the curriculum for the tour guides in geology and fossils are effective and practical. They should be introduced and applied to improve the foreign language skills for other professional groups.