Developing English Self-Study Package for Khmer Sanctuary Tour Guides

Prapaporn Sompakdee, Uthaivan Danvivath

Khon Kaen University, Thailand

ABSTRACT

In Northeast Thailand, Khmer sanctuaries are one of the main attractions among international tourists. Tour guides must be able to give professional tours to tourists. However, three problems were found that prevented the presentation of professional tours to tourists, for instance low number of English-speaking guides at Khmer historical parks, insufficient Khmer specific English skill and Khmer specific historical knowledge of the tour guides in Northeast Thailand, and lack of books teaching English Khmer specific language for Thai tour guides. The purposes of this study were to construct an English Self-Study Package for Khmer Sanctuary Tour Guides (ESPK), to investigate the effectiveness of ESPK, and to study the learners’ attitudes toward ESPK. The population of the study was 13 tour guides who were certified by the government to provide tours in Northeast Thailand. All of them volunteered to participate in the study. There were five instruments in this study as follows: Pre-test, Post-test, the ESPK, Participants’ retrospections on the tests, and a Follow-up Questionnaire. The data were collected by video recordings and answering a follow-up questionnaire. Four tally sheets were used to analyse the data. The participants were given one month to study through the ESPK. The findings show that the participants improved in the following areas: English grammar use, Khmer specific vocabulary use, and knowledge of the Khmer sanctuaries in Northeast Thailand. In addition, the retrospective reports of the participants indicated a positive view of the knowledge gained by the participants while completing the ESPK. This paper will also discuss participant’s evaluation of the ESPK as a learning tool. According to the findings, it was determined that the ESPK is an effective tool in resolving the problems listed at the beginning of this abstract.

KEYWORDS

Needs analysis, English for Specific Purposes, material development, Khmer sanctuaries