A Case Study of English Lexical Competence and Performance involving Hospitality Students Conducting Tours

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Piyapong Laosrirattanachai
Wannakarn Likitrattanaporn

Abstract

                The study investigated the levels of words that students use, to explore their lexical complexity, and to analyze gaps between the lexical competence and performance in their speech while conducting tours. In total, 69 students enrolled in the Technical English for Tourism Business course at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand were used as the subject of the study. The study involved descriptive research and used both quantitative and qualitative approaches to analyze the data which was collected from the students’ assignments. The VocabProfile program, Type-Token Ratio, and exercises created based on each student’s assignment were used as the research instruments. The results showed that the words used by the students were mostly in Base List 1, followed by Base List 2 and Base List 3, respectively. The Type-Token Ratio results showed that on average, students used 50% of their vocabulary repeatedly in their tour speeches. The overall students’ scores for the exercise showed that students used vocabulary at about one-half of their vocabulary competence. It was considered that teachers of English for Tourism should emphasize increasing students’ lexical performance by drawing out the students’ existing lexical competence because spending time on focusing on arousing students to memorize a large amount of vocabulary without encouraging them to use the words is just a waste of time. The results further showed that students often avoid taking risks in using unfamiliar vocabulary and that was a big barrier preventing them from being better learners. 

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บทความ : International