Hospitality English

Abstract

This portfolio is designed for an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course for new employees of the Best Western: Niagara Hotel in Seoul, Korea. I created this portfolio to meet the needs of the hotel. I learned that with the recent increase of interest in Korean culture abroad, more and more tourists are visiting Korea. The target learners are four women and two men who are between the ages of twenty-three and twenty-eight, and who need to learn English because many of their duties in the hotel require proficient English communication. My textbook, Hospitality English focuses on the development of speaking, reading, listening and writing skills of adult learners, and to help them learn important vocabulary and expressions that are needed specifically in the hospitality industry. This will be an intensive course in which we will meet for four hours, three times a week during working hours. According to the guidelines outlined by the American Council on The Teaching of Foreign Languages, the target learners’ listening, speaking, and writing proficiency levels are Intermediate Mid, and their reading level is Intermediate High. The target learners can converse on a basic level about everyday topics, but they are unable to describe their personal opinions fluently or accurately. The target learners can speak Japanese and/or Chinese well, but the Korean public school system did not provide them with many opportunities to practice their English speaking and writing. For this reason, there is a gap between the target learners’ current English skills and their goals; the target learners need to significantly develop their speaking and writing skills.