English for Event Management: A Mixed Methods Study for Needs Analysis and Course Design

Abstract

English for Specific Purposes plays an important role at the tertiary education level. As the event industry is expanding in many countries around the world, including Thailand, study programs which help prepare young people specifically for a career in the event industry are becoming more sought after. An important component of any such program is an English language course which will equip students with the English skills necessary to succeed in this increasingly globalized industry. In order to design and develop an effective English for Event Management course, opinions regarding what should be included in the course were obtained from the 159 English major undergraduate students in the Faculty of Liberal Arts at a university in Thailand and 15 stakeholders (ESL/EFL teachers, event management teachers, and employers and employees in the event industry) using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study provide a wealth of practical information (e.g., instructional approaches, tasks and activities, and assessment methods) that can be further used for designing and developing an English for Event Management course for English major undergraduate students.