Guidelines for Development of English Communicative Skills of Traders in Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Mueang District, Mukdahan Province

Abstract

The purposes of this mixed methods research were to survey the English language needs for communication and propose guidelines for the development of English for communicative purposes of traders in Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Mueang district, Mukdahan province. Data were collected by administering a set of questionnaires and in-depth interview questionnaires to collect quantitative data along with conducting in-depth interviews to gain qualitative data consisting of open-ended information offsetting the weakness of quantitative data. The results revealed that the majority had inadequate English skills. The first three English contents that were most needed were giving information about products and services, negotiating and bargaining; while, listening and speaking skills for negotiating and bargaining prices were considered the most important. In addition, it was required encouragement from the government organizations to provide professional training for the trading operation, afford multimedia for English learning, and increase the cooperation network with other organizations or universities to be a guest lecturer to teach English communicative skills for professional purposes.