English for Homestay Tourism: Barriers and Needs of Entrepreneurs in Rural Community of Thailand

Abstract

Nowadays English language has become a medium of communication and is used as a lingua franca by native and non-native speakers including in homestay tourism. Therefore, this qualitative research investigates the barriers and needs of English for homestay entrepreneurs in a rural community, in Phetchabun province, Thailand. The samples were 15 key informants selected by purposive sampling. They are homestay entrepreneurs in Baan Saliang Haeng 3, Khao Kho District, Phetchabun province that has obtained the Thai homestay standard evaluation. Participant observation and in-depth interviews were employed for data collection and the data were analyzed by thematic analysis. The findings reveal two main issues: i) the limitations and barriers of using English for communication with international visitors and ii) Needs for English skills development for homestay entrepreneurs. The key limitations of the homestay owners are their educational background. Most of them graduated from primary and secondary school as well as they do not use English in their daily life. As a result, they lack knowledge of English vocabulary and are not able to construct English sentences. In terms of the need for English improvement, most homestay entrepreneurs need English learning materials that are in bilingual version (Thai – English) with Thai language reading and meaning such as a booklet with the contents of greetings, room explanation, room rate, room facilities, amenities explanation, and tour itinerary of the community which they can learn by themselves.