Hospitality language as a professional skill

Abstract

International travel is a rapidly growing activity entailing cross-cultural communication between hosts and guests from different linguistic backgrounds. There is therefore a growing worldwide need for front-line staff (as hosts) in the hospitality industry who are able to communicate effectively with guests. This paper argues that particular patterns of language are associated with host-guest interaction. This language, corresponding to the different stages of the arrival-departure hospitality cycle, may be termed 'hospitality language'. The first two parts of the paper investigate hospitality practices and define the notion of hospitality language, outlining its evolution in the context of the United Kingdom. This is followed by an illustration of its use in a case study of four hotels in Southampton. The fourth part discusses some pedagogical implications, with an emphasis on the need to expose learners to actual hotel reception practices. Interviews with hotel staff reveal that some hospitality skills could be developed through in-service training. It is argued that such training could be viewed as an ESP/ EOP requirement of the hospitality profession. The concluding section recommends that communication skills be given more serious attention by human resources managers, researchers and educators in the field of hospitality management.

Investigating the English Syllabus of Room Division Department Related to the Needs of the Hotel Industries: A Case Study at One Tourism Institute in Bandung

“…Students should also be exposed t o various elements of hospitality language as mentioned by Blue and Harun (2003). T he basic needs of English of the hotel indu stries has actually been accommodated by this tourism institute.…”

English for Tourism and Hospitality Purposes (ETP)

“…Huang (2008) constructed a complete and comprehensive model for the English for Specific Purposes curriculum which is applicable for hospitality and tourism English. Regarding the English proficiency to fulfil job responsibilities in the tourism sector, all the activities that guests and hosts experience may involve interactive communication, and tourism employees are required to follow and use specific professional conversations, language, vocabularies and speech matter when serving guests (Blue & Harun, 2003).…”

Using Lost in Translation to Prepare Students for the Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Realities of International Business

“…In scene 14, Harris is greeted by a hotel employee: "Mr. Harris, Pleased to welcome." In many international hotels the level of employee English is good (Blue & Harun, 2002). However, this is not always the case (Hunter, 2007), especially with back-of-house staff.…”

“…In many international hotels, the level of employee English is good (Blue & Harun, 2002). However, this is not always the case (Hunter, 2007) (Francis, 1991).…”