Developing English for Tour Guides Material: Khmer Sanctuary Guides
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Abstract
Khmer sanctuaries are one of the main types of tourist attractions in the Northeast, Thailand. Tour guides are responsible for giving quality tours and are a source knowledge to travelers. However, there are three problems that limit the quality of qualified tours to travellers. There are very few people working as English-speaking tour guides at Khmer sites, inadequate specific English skills in Khmer site topics and a lack of specific Khmer historical knowledge possessed by the tour guides in the region, and the nonexistence of books teaching English for specific language on Khmer topics for Thai tour guides. The objectives of this study were to develop English for tourism material for Khmer sanctuary tour guides, and to determine the effectiveness of the learning material. There were thirteen tour guides used as the population of the study. These tour guides were qualified by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to deliver tours in the region. They all volunteered to be in the study. Four instruments were used in the study: a pre-test, a post-test, the learning material, and a questionnaire. Video recordings and questionnaires were used to collect data. The participants spent three months studying the learning material by themselves. The results indicated the participants improved in grammar, specific vocabulary, and specific knowledge of Khmer sites. Also, the participants provided some positive views about the material as they gained more knowledge from it. Consistent with the results of the study, the material was determined to be an effective tool in solving two of the three problems listed above.
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