Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 www.alls.aiac.org.au A Development of Foreign Language Training Course for Local Youth Guides of Dankwian Community in Thailand Pitchayapa Chavangklang*, Thanaset Chavangklang Business English Department, Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University, 340 Suranarai Rd. Muang District, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand Corresponding Author: Pitchayapa Chavangklang, E-mail: [email protected] ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history English language has become increasingly more important as it is used as an international Received: March 02, 2018 language to communicate with people from other countries, especially in the tourism, which Accepted: April 08, 2018 is one of Thailand’s most growing industrial sectors today. Although English is taught at all Published: July 06, 2018 educational levels in Thailand for general purposes, there is still need for specific use of English Volume: 9 Issue: 4 in some areas such as local tourism places. This leads to the need for improving the English Advance access: August 31, 2018 language ability of people in such areas, particularly young people, who are most likely to have influential effects not only on themselves but also their families and community as a whole. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a foreign language training course for Conflicts of interest: None Local Youth Guide at Dankwian Community - a famous pottery-making village in Thailand. Funding: The research is financed The course was developed in four stages: 1) Studying background information; 2) Developing by the Faculty of Humanities and the training course of Foreign Language for Local Youth Guide; 3) Trying-out the course; and Social Sciences, Nakhon Ratchasi- 4) Evaluating the course. The training course was implemented with a group of 60 junior high ma Rajabhat University school students. The study was designed for one group pretest-posttest, using pre-post tests and a satisfaction questionnaire as study tools. The study revealed the following results. 1) The community members needed a foreign language training course which has both lecturing and Key words: workshops. 2) The course consisted of one ice-breaking module and five language modules. Foreign Language, 3) While attending the course, participants were enthusiastic, asking questions, and actively English Language, contributing to the discussions. 4) After the course, participants significantly improved their Training Course, language ability at the.05 level. The participants’ satisfaction on the training course was at the Curriculum Development, ‘very high’ level. They indicated that the course emphasized on the real life applications. These Local Youth Guide, results revealed the usefulness of a short training course for local youth guides in Thailand. It can Local Tourism be applied to other local areas in Thailand that have foreign tourists. A similar training course can be developed by making some modifications to this course to fit their local contents. INTRODUCTION to all local areas of the country through the creation of tourism-related jobs. Local tour guiding is among the jobs Background to the Study which can be developed for local people so as to enhance The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched a their standards of knowledge, responsibility, as well as com- “Discover Thainess” campaign since 2015, and the cam- munication skills using English as a medium. Through this paign is still in effect until now. The word Thainess refers to development, local people can improve their potential and Thai culture which includes people, traditions, customs, life participate in tourism activities of the community. styles, architecture, nature, language, dressing, and so on, inherited from generation to generation, or adapted to suit current life styles, which may be in traditional or contempo- Rational of the Study rary forms. For local areas where tourism is a major source of income, Thailand has a variety of tourism resources such as the people need to use English not only for general communica- natural beauty, cultural and historical heritage, through to the tion, but for their career. However, in the current time, it has Thai ways of living, as is currently seen on the campaign. been found that people in these areas cannot communicate Tourism plays a vital role in the country’s economic and so- in English effectively, especially among adults, as English cial development because it creates numerous related service is used as a foreign language in Thailand. In the same way, industries which distribute incomes into societies and com- young people have the chance to learn many subjects in En- munities. In Thailand, tourism industry is considered a major glish in school. These subjects bring the learners up to the tool for earning national income which can be contributed ability which is not adequate to communicate in everyday Published by Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD. Copyright (c) the author(s). This is an open access article under CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.9n.4p.187 188 ALLS 9(4):187-192 life effectively, not to mention the use for such contexts as other courses which aim at improving English language abil- being a tour guide. This leads to the need for developing a ity of people in the local tourism areas, through young peo- course for local tour guides especially the young people in ple. This course can be directly taken for other target areas order to improve their ability of using English for commu- or modified to suit educational and pedagogical contexts. nication in various situations related to the work of a tour Secondly, students who participated in the training improved guide in the local area. Such training courses have to suit their English language ability which can further affect their people in different areas and must be flexible accordingly parents. As a whole, the study has put some light to the com- (Academic Department, 1990: 23). In a field visit in January munity in finding ways in improving English communica- 2016 at Ban Dankwian community, which is one of the local tion skills essential to their careers. tourism areas, best-known as the pottery village in Nakhon Ratchasima Province in Thailand, the researchers talked to LITERATURE REVIEW local business owners, teachers, and people in the commu- nity. It was found that tourists who come to this village in- Elements and Characteristics of a Good Curriculum cluded both Thais and foreigners. One of the major concerns The term “curriculum” has different meanings in different the community had was that local business owners could not context in which it is being used. Curriculum is a medium or communicate with foreign tourist clearly, which resulted in method which leads the learners to the end destination. Such low chance of selling or promoting their products. definition of a curriculum has been given by Taba (1962). Sayler and Alexander (1974: 3) stated that a curriculum re- Research Problem fers to all attempts of the school in making desirable learn- After the interviews with stake holders in the local commu- ing outcomes at the school, both inside and outside school nity at Ban Dankwian community, the problems they had conditions. However, Beauchamp (1981) has identified three were that they could not explain to the foreigners the details types of curriculum. of their products other than telling prices. In order to improve 1. A curriculum refers to a document created as guidelines their English, there had been attempts from local government for educational management, consisting of details about and educational institutes to provide English training courses. organizing learning experiences for learners, curriculum However, local entrepreneurs were usually not able to attend goals, contents, instructional activities, as well as testing those courses due to the time constraints. With this latest at- and evaluation. tempt, when a local guide training course was offered, they 2. A curriculum refers to an operational system about the recommended that, to be more beneficial, the participants curriculum, consisting of advanced educational curricu- should be young people at their local school, rather than lum development. adults. After some meetings at Dankwian Wittaya School, 3. A curriculum refers to an educational field - a definition teachers and administrators agreed to have a training course at used in higher level educational institutes. the school for junior high school level. The researchers, there- Taba (1962: 11) suggested a concept about elements of a fore, responded to the needs by developing a training course curriculum, which should be the following: for young local guides, focusing on the contexts of the pottery 1. General and subject-specific objectives village of Ban Dankwian. This study reports on the develop- 2. Subject contents ment of the course and the evaluation of its implementation. 3. Instructional process 4. Instructional evaluation structure according to the cur- riculum Objectives of the Study The aims of the study were: 1) to develop a foreign language Curriculum Development Planning training course for Local Youth Guide at Dankwian Commu- nity; and 2) to evaluate a foreign language training course for 1. Diagnosis of needs. The investigation of needs is the Local Youth Guide at Dankwian Community. most important in the planning process. Curriculum de- velopers (teachers) have to diagnose the learners’ expe- riences, needs, and interests and use them to determine Sample of the Study the curriculum contents. The research population included Grade 8 junior high school 2. Formulation of objectives. When the needs of the learn- students at Dankwian Wittaya School, Nakhon Racthasi- ers or the society have been identified, curriculum de- ma, Thailand. The research samples were 60 Grade 8 junior velopers develop objectives for the curriculum, which high school students at Dankwian Wittaya School, Nakhon will determine the specifications of the contents and Racthasima, Thailand, selected by using the purposive sam- methods for organizing learning experiences.