Outline

In today’s world of fast economic air travel, millions of people move around the world each day of the week. Many travel for business and personal reasons, however the bulk of the flying public in the busy seasons of the year are holiday travellers. Certainly some of these will isolate themselves behind travel couriers and expatriate families. Most of them, however, will come into contact with spoken and written English and the more comfortable they are using this language then the more stress free their trip will be. Even if you are travelling on your country’s domestic carrier and have spoken your native language to the flight attendants all the way to Australia you will come into contact with English when you are given the landing and immigration forms to complete in the final stages of your flight.

In the English for Travellers unit we will follow Sinnisi Sabolga who is an Indonesian student flying to Australia from Jakarta on a student study visa.

Outcomes

The aims of this elective are:

To become familiar with the language of English for Travellers and to develop strategies to teach English for Travellers to speakers of languages other than English.

We will do this by covering the following:

• Arriving – Describing the communication skills required when arriving at an Airport.
• Transport – Describing communication skills required to access transport and change money.
• Booking a reservation – Describing the communication skills required to book accommodation.
• Greetings and Farewells – Describing the formalities and different customs of saying ‘hello and goodbye’.
• Finding your way –  Describing giving and receiving directions.
• Communicating with phones and e-mail – Describing the communication skills required to use phone and e-mail effectively.
• Emergencies – Describing how to communicate and act in a minor emergency.
• Shopping and general commercial transactions – Describing the ability to communicate effectively while shopping.
• Eating out – Describing how to look for suitable food outlets.

Outline

What is English in Hospitality?

‘English in Hospitality’ is English as it is used in the Hospitality Industry.

Like any other industry, the Hospitality Industry has its own terminology and jargon. We will explore the ‘language’ of the Hospitality Industry and how we can teach this language to our students.

Hospitality is an industry in which there is frequent contact with people. As such, it pays to be able to communicate well in this industry in order to give the best service possible to the people one comes into contact with.

People who work in the Hospitality Industry and who need (or will need) to use English to communicate with clients, patrons, tourists, customers, guests, passengers and or visitors can benefit greatly by studying English in Hospitality. Studying such context-specific English will help Hospitality-Industry workers to communicate more effectively in English. Indeed, they will become better able to deal with the various situations they may encounter at work in which the use of English is required.

We are becoming a global society and the phenomenon of ‘globalisation’ is significantly present – for better or for worse! It also seems that a global language is emerging – International English!

A growing number of individuals therefore, from ‘non-English-speaking’ countries are investing in their futures by studying English. Many of these people are studying English to be able to communicate in the Hospitality Industry. That is, they are studying English in Hospitality!

These individuals see the importance of such an area of study. They are aware of the many advantages that studying English in Hospitality will bring. They understand that not knowing English in Hospitality may limit their career opportunities. They know that studying English in Hospitality is essential if they wish to work in the (English-speaking) Hospitality Industry in the twenty first century!

Outcomes

This Unit sets out to enable each student to:

• To become familiar with the (English) language used in the Hospitality Industry and to develop strategies to be able to teach ‘English in Hospitality’ to speakers of languages other than English.

This will be covered in the following ways:

• Describing English in Hospitality – Defining English in Hospitality.
• Transport – Describing communication skills required to access transport and change money.
• Different jobs – Describing different roles within the Hospitality industry.
• Accommodation – Describing the communication skills needed to assist guests making reservations.
• Having an enjoyable stay – Describing services and facilities offered by places of accommodation.
• Getting around – Describing communication skills needed to give information and advice on places of interest.
• Tourism – Describing attractions and activities, making suggestions and providing alternatives.
• Let’s go shopping – Describing the service and selling.
• At the restaurant – Explaining the menu and the bill.
• Safety – Describing safety and security.
• The future of the Hospitality industry – Describing changing trends and new ways of communicating.