35

Chan, Mei-Yuit (2002). English language communication training needs of front office assistants of hotels in Kuala
Lumpur. In Jayakaran Mukundan, Arshad Abd Samad & Teh Chee Seng (Eds.), Readings in English Language
Teaching (ELT): Selected Papers from the Millennium MICELT (pp. 35 44). Serdang, Malaysia: Penerbit
Universiti Putra Malaysia.

English Language Communication Training Needs of Front Office Assistants of Hotels in

Kuala Lumpur
CHAN MEI YUIT
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang,
Selangor
Abstract
In this study, English language communication training needs of Front Office Assistants were identified and
described. Eight hotels of 4-star and 5-star rating in Kuala Lumpur participated in the survey, from which a total of
44 Front Office Assistants and 26 Managers responded. The main aim of the study was to determine which areas of
job-based communicative activities deserve emphasis in a training programme for Front Office assistants. Also, the
difference in perceptions between the Front Office Assistants and their managers regarding the training needs was
explored. Data were collected via needs assessment questionnaire which requested a rating by the respondents of the
proficiency level of Front Office Assistants on 35 communicative activities, and the relevance of these activities to
the job of Front Office Assistant. The result was a description of the English language communication training needs
of the subjects comprising the degree of training need for each communicative activity and the rank order of the
activities according to training importance.

Introduction
The hotel industry is one that requires employees to be skilled in providing customer service through the
medium of English. To do this effectively, an employee, especially one who has constant contact with
customers, has to be competent in English language communication skills. In a research conducted by the
Educational Institute of the American Hotels and Motels Association, 1996, it was found that:
Training could most improve the front office department, followed by the food/beverage
service and housekeeping departments. Forty-four percent of respondents cited the front
office department as the first priority to receive training.
Overall, guest service/relations training was most frequently cited as the training topic
that would be most beneficial to employees, followed by leadership/supervision and
sales/marketing.
These findings showed that competence in human relations/guest relations is considered the most
important competency area that requires training. Although this survey was conducted in the U.S., it is
safe to assume that such relationship building skills are just as important to hotels in Malaysia. For many
hotels in Malaysia, the fact that guest relations are mainly facilitated through the English language, which
is a second language in Malaysia, compounds the challenges of training in this area. A preliminary survey
confirmed that the hotels in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) felt that it has become necessary to consider
providing training to their front line employees in the area of English language communication skills,
which are essential for upgrading the quality of customer service.
The aim of this study was to describe the English language communication training needs of
Front Office Assistants (FOAs) of hotels in Kuala Lumpur. The hotels targeted were those in the 4-star
and 5-star category. The main objectives were to:

36
1. Determine the relevance of 35 communicative activities to the job of FOA, as perceived by the
FOAs and their managers.
2. Determine the proficiency levels of the FOAs in carrying out the 35 communicative activities in
English, as perceived by the FOAs and their managers.
3. Derive the rank order of the 35 communicative activities according to training importance.
4. Compare the difference in perceptions between the FOAs and their managers as regards the
relevance of the communicative activities and the proficiency levels of the FOAs.
Conceptual Framework
To ensure that training programmes planned are relevant to the needs of the sponsoring organisation
(employer) as well as the training participant (employee), information on organisational, job, and
employee training needs should be obtained and analysed. The process of obtaining and analysing these
needs is called training needs assessment. According to Sredl and Rothwell (1987), assessing needs is
the single most important step in designing human resource development efforts. It is the basis of all
subsequent efforts in designing a training programme to avoid money being wasted in misdirected efforts.
An important part of needs assessment is finding out what skills, content (subject matter), and attitudes
necessary for an employee to successfully carry out his job are lacking.
Job information can be obtained by breaking down a job into discrete units of activity (Fleishman
and Quaintance, 1984, in Sredl and Rothman, 1987; Deden-Parker, 1980; Taylor and Lewe, 1990). This
approach is commonly known as task analysis. Jobs are broken down into tasks, which are discrete
behaviours that could be objectively assessed and specifically taught (Deden-Parker, 1980). Through
task analysis, the training designer will be able to obtain specific information on what an employee has to
do in order to perform his job well, following which the skills, knowledge and other competencies can be
specified.
In corporate language training, job-related English language communication training falls within
the ___domain of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), which is essentially the teaching of language and
communication skills for a specific vocational or academic purpose (Munby, 1978; Graham and
Beardsley, 1986). Proponents of ESP, including Roe (1993), Munby (1978), Hutchinson and Waters
(1987), and others have pointed out that the first step in any ESP programme is doing an analysis of
learners needs. Approaches to English language needs analysis are many and varied, but ideas from the
communicative school of thought seem to converge on the idea that analyzing what the learner has to
do/perform in English is of paramount importance. This variable to be studied has been called the
communicative event and communicative activity.
The language training designer is interested in the communication aspect of the employees job
and tasks. He is interested to find out what communicative activities involving the use of English the
employee has to participate in while performing his job. Adopting the same concept of breaking down a
macro job into its smaller units of its component tasks, the job and tasks are analysed for communicative
events which are then broken down into communicative activities. Thus, the communicative activities are
essentially derived from the actual tasks the learner/employee is engaged in while carrying out his job.

Method
Twelve hotels were randomly selected from a list of 23 hotels in the 4-star and 5-star category, out of
which eight agreed to participate. 44 Front Office Assistants (FOAs), the subjects of this study, and 26
managers of the Front Office department of the 8 hotels returned the questionnaire. The rate of return was
66.7% for hotels, 86.9% for managers, and 68.8% for FOAs.

37
The FOAs were clerical level employees, reporting to the Front Office manager. They were also
supervised by the assistant managers and duty managers.
The two groups of respondents rated the relevance of 35 communicative activities to the job of
FOA on a three-point scale. Also, the FOAs rated their own proficiency in carrying out the activities in
English, while the managers rated the FOAs proficiency as a group. In addition to that, the respondents
ranked the four language skills (listening, reading, speaking, writing) according to importance to the job
of FOA. They also indicated in which language skills the FOAs should be trained in, should training be
offered.
Table 1: Most important language skills for the job of FOA
Language skill

Listening
Speaking
Reading
Writing

FOAs
n=44
Percent
46.3
53.7
0
0

Managers
n=26
Percent
65.3
30.4
4.3
0

Table 2: Second most important language skill for the job of FOA
Language skill

Listening
Speaking
Reading
Writing

FOAs
n=44
Percent
38.5
43.6
5.1
12.8

Managers
n=26
Percent
28.0
64.0
4.0
4.0

Findings and Discussion

The four language skills
As expected, the respondents indicated that the aural-oral skills were most relevant to the job of FOA,
followed by t reading, and lastly, writing (Tables 1 and 2). Also, the respondents indicated listening and
speaking as the main skills to be emphasised in training, if training were to be offered to the FOAs.
However, many respondents (FOAs and managers) also chose writing as a skill to be emphasised (Table
3). This was an unexpected result, as writing was ranked as unimportant to the job of FOA. Although
further investigation is need to ascertain the reason for this interest in writing, a possible reason could
be that the respondents view training not only as a means to improve skills for a current job, but also as a
means to prepare for a future job (career development). In order to rise to supervisory and managerial
positions, proficiency in writing would be of great help. This result has important implications for the
training designer, as learners communication needs and wishes which may or may not be related to their
jobs, play a vital role in their motivation to learn (Yalden 1987). In a language learning environment
especially, job-related needs must be balanced with learners wants as this may play a cricual role in
determining the success or failure of a language training programme.

38
Table 3: Skills to be emphasised in training for FOAs
Language skill

Listening
Speaking
Reading
Writing

FOAs
n=44
Percent
45.5
72.2
36.4
59.1

Managers
n=26
Percent
80.8
88.5
38.5
57.7

Table 4: Activities that are low in relevance to the job of FOA

Item
no.
9

Communicative activity

Mean
(FOAs)
n=44
38.5

Answer customer enquiries on food and beverage

by letter, e-mail or fax
16
Respond to complaints on food and beverage
43.6
30
Describe charts and graphs at meetings
5.1
(note: 0 = not relevant, 0.5 = somewhat relevant, 1 = very relevant)

Mean
(Managers)
n=26
28.0
64.0
4.0

Relevance of communicative activities to the job

By assigning weighted scores to the responses for each communicative activity, the mean score for each
activity was computed and compared. The results showed that both the respondent groups felt that the
activities, with the exception of three (Table 4), were relevant to the job of FOA. This showed that the
activities in the questionnaire were clearly job-related.
A Student-t test of significance showed that the managers responses differed significantly from
the FOAs on three activities (Table 5). Two of these activities had to do with communicating matters
related to safety, and one had to do with reporting problems and difficulties. These activities (especially
the first two) are low frequency but important activities. As the notion of relevance would include both
the notions of frequency and importance, it may seem that the managers had given more
consideration to the importance aspect, while the FOAs had placed more emphasis on the frequency
aspect.
Proficiency level
It was found that out of the 35 communicative activities, the FOAs rated themselves as requiring further
training (having low proficiency) for 12 activities (Table 6). The managers on the other hand, felt the
FOAs required further training in 27 activities (Table 7). The 12 activities selected by the FOAs were
within the list selected by the managers.

39
Table 5: Activities whose means for relevance to job differed significantly between the FOAs and the
managers groups
Item
no.

Communicative activity

Sig. (2-tailed)

12
22

Answer enquiries on fire escape route in the hotel

0.0008
Listen to managers explanation on safety
0.031
precautions
29
Explain difficulties/ problems arising from work
0.015
to managers
(note: 0 = not relevant, 0.5 = somewhat relevant, 1 = very relevant)

Mean
(FOAs)
n=44
0.65
0.82

Mean
(Managers)
n=26
0.87
0.94

0.80

0.94

Table 6: Communicative activities with means of 0.5 and above for proficiency level, obtained from the
managers responses
Item
no.
Communicative activities with means of 0.5 and above (managers list)
1
3*
4
5
7*
8*
9*
11*
12*
13
14*
15*
16*
17
18
22
24*
25
26
27*
28
29
30*
31
32
33

Conduct tours of hotel facilities

Entertain VIP guests
Listen to customer enquiries
Listen to customer complaints
Answer customer enquiries on room rates in writing (by letter, e-mail or fax)
Answer customer enquiries on food and beverage orally (in person or through the
telephone)
Answer customer enquiries on food and beverage in writing (by letter, e-mail or
fax)
Answer customer enquiries on hotel facilities in writing (by letter, e-mail or fax)
Answer enquiries on fire escape routes in hotel
Answer enquiries about local establishments like shops, tourist attractions, banks,
etc.
Answer enquiries on local cultures
Respond to customer complaints on hotel services
Respond to complaints on food and beverage
Respond to complaints on rooms
Explain hotel policies and procedures to guests
Listen to managers explanation on safety precautions
Present ideas at meetings with managers
Discuss work-related matters with managers
Give an oral report regarding work matters to managers
Discuss ways to improve customer service with managers
Discuss ways to improve work efficiency with managers
Explain difficulties/problems arising from work with managers
Describe graphs and charts at meetings
Read memos from managers
Read circulars, notices from management
Relay important information to coworkers

Mean
(Managers)
n=26
0.64
0.66
0.63
0.76
0.68
0.64
0.74
0.70
0.70
0.56
0.58
0.70
0.83
0.66
0.67
0.60
0.62
0.58
0.58
0.68
0.68
0.58
0.80
0.58
0.56
0.52

40
35
Read books, magazines and journals to improve job knowledge and skills
0.58
(note: 0 = not relevant, 0.5 = somewhat relevant, 1 = very relevant). The items with asterisks above are
also those with means of at least 0.5 derived from the FOAs responses (see Table 7).
Table 7: Activities with means of 0.5 and above for proficiency level, obtained from the FOAs responses
Item
no.
Communicative activities with means of 0.5 and above (managers list)
3
7
8

Entertain VIP guests

Answer customer enquiries on room rates in writing (by letter, e-mail or fax)
Answer customer enquiries on food and beverage orally (in person or through the
telephone)
9
Answer customer enquiries on food and beverage in writing (by letter, e-mail or
fax)
11
Answer customer enquiries on hotel facilities in writing (by letter, e-mail or fax)
12
Answer enquiries on fire escape routes in hotel
14
Answer enquiries on local cultures
15
Respond to customer complaints on hotel services
16
Respond to complaints on food and beverage
24
Present ideas at meetings with managers
27
Discuss ways to improve customer service with managers
30
Describe graphs and charts at meetings
(note: 0 = not relevant, 0.5 = somewhat relevant, 1 = very relevant)

Mean
(Managers)
n=26
0.60
0.53
0.60
0.67
0.55
0.65
0.52
0.51
0.66
0.56
0.50
0.72

Table 8: Activities whose means for proficiency level differed significantly between the FOAs and the
managers groups.
Item
no.
1
4
5
15
16
17
18
22
25
27
28
31
32
33
35

Communicative activity
Conduct tours of hotel facilities
Listen to customer enquiries
Listen to customer complaints
Respond to customer complaints on hotel services
Respond to complaints on food and beverage
Respond to complaints on rooms
Explain hotel policies and procedures to guests
Listen to managers explanation on safety
precautions
Discuss work-related matters with managers
Discuss ways to improve customer service with
managers
Discuss ways to improve work efficiency with
managers
Read memos from managers
Read circulars, notices from management
Relay important information to coworkers
Read books, magazines and journals to improve
job knowledge and skills

0.02
0.00
0.00
0.04
0.04
0.05
0.04
0.03

Mean
(FOAs)
n=44
0.47
0.34
0.42
0.51
0.66
0.47
0.48
0.40

Mean
(Managers)
n=26
0.64
0.63
0.76
0.70
0.83
0.66
0.67
0.60

0.04
0.04

0.41
0.50

0.58
0.68

0.02

0.47

0.68

0.02
0.03
0.05
0.03

0.36
0.36
0.31
0.38

0.58
0.56
0.52
0.58

Sig. (2-tailed)

41
Moreover, the managers rated the FOAs proficiency significantly lower than the FOAs rated
themselves (Table 8). This could mean the managers felt the FOAs were not performing up to
expectations, or the FOAs had a higher confidence in their own ability than the managers did.
Table 9: Rank order of communicative activities according to training importance
Rank

Items in order of training

importance (FOAs list)

Items in order of
training importance
(managers list)
1
3
5
2
15
15
3
24
4
4
14
28
5
12
12
6
27
27
7
13
17
8
5
22
9
17
29
10
8
18
11
18
26
12
21
25
13
28
13
14
7
11
15
1
24
16
10
7
17
11
35
18
16
33
19
26
21
20
4
10
21
9
14
22
22
32
23
25
3
24
29
34
25
33
1
26
35
31
27
34
8
28
19
2
29
20
20
30
6
23
31
2
16
32
31
19
33
32
6
34
23
9
35
30
30
(note: items = item numbers of communicative activities as listed in the questionnaire (see Appendix))
It is to be commented here, however, that low proficiency ratings of FOAs in any of the activities
did not necessarily make those activities high on the agenda for training. Proficiency level has to be seen
in conjunction with the relevance- to-job ratings before an objective decision can be made on whether
training in a certain activity is required.

42
Rank order of activities
The product of the proficiency and relevance scores of an FOA for a particular activity represents the
magnitude of training need (0 = no need, to 1 = critical need) of the FOA for that activity. Subsequently,
the mean of these scores for the whole group of FOAs would indicate the overall training importance of
that activity for the group of subjects. The 35 activities were thus ranked according to the value of their
respective product mean scores (Table 9). Furthermore, the activities were categorised according to their
training importance based on the magnitude of their product mean scores (Table 10). From the FOAs
responses, it was found that all except two of the activities came under the category of reasonable need
for training. Two activities appeared in the limited need for training category. From the managers
responses, 23 activities came under the reasonable need for training category, while 12 were in the
high need for training category. No activity fell into the critical need for training category.
Table 10: Range of means for activities from the FOAs and managers lists
Item number of communicative activities
FOAs list
Managers list
23, 30
Nil
32,31,2,6,20,19,34,35,33,29,25,22,9,4,26,
9,6,19,16,23,20,2,8,31,1,34,3,32,14,
16,11,10,1,7,28,21,18,8,17,5,13,27,12,14,
10,21,33,35,7,24,11,13
24,15,3
0.5 under 0.75
Nil
0.75 1.0
Nil
(note: 0 under 0.25 :
limited need for training
0.25 under 0.5:
reasonable need for training
0.5 under 0.75:
high need for training
0.75 1.0:
critical need for training)
Mean
0 under 0.25
0.25 under 0.5

Conclusion
The design of an English language communication training programme for FOAs of hotels in Kuala
Lumpur (Malaysia) should take into account job-based communicative activities and their level of
training importance. The results of this study are aimed at assisting the training designer in deciding
which communicative activities, and hence which skills and content are to be emphasised. Their prupose
is to provide useful information to aid the trainer to design an effective programme that is calculated to
yield the best results within time and budget contstraints.

References
Chan, M. Y. 1988. English Language Communication Training Needs of Front Office Assistants of Hotels
in Kuala Lumpur. Unpublished Masters Thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Deden-Parker, A. 1980. Needs Assessment in Depth: Professional Training at Wells Fargo Bank. Journal
of Instructional Development, 4(1): 3 9.
Educational Institute of AHMA. 1996. Final Results of Training Needs Assessment: Industry Aggregate
Report [On-line]. Educational Institute of American Hotels and Motels Association, U.S.
Available: http://www.ei-ahma.org/whatsnew/conf2/sld001.html
Graham, J. G., & Beardsley, R. S. 1986. English for Specific Purposes: Content, Language and
Communication. TESOL Quarterly, 20(2): 227 245.
Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. 1987. English for Specific Purposes: A Learning-Centred Approach. New

43
York: Cambridge University Press.
Malaysia Tourism Promotions Board. 1997. Malaysia Hotel Guide, Sports and Recreation 98. Malaysia:
Malaysia Tourism Promotions Board.
Munby, J. 1978. Communicative Syllabus Design. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Roe, P. J. 1993. The Anatomy of ESP. ESP Malaysia 1(1): 1 16.
Sredl, H. J. & Rothwell, W. J. 1987. The ASTD Reference Guide to Professional Training Roles and
Competencies Vol. 2. Massachusetts: HRD Press.
Taylor, M. C., & Lewe, G. L. 1990. Basic Skills Training A Launchpad for Success in the Workplace.
Literacy Task Analysis Project, Interim Report. Ontario: National Literacy Secretariat.
Yalden, J. 1987. The Communicative Syllabus: Evolution, Design and Implementation. United Kingdom:
Prentice-Hall International Ltd.

Appendix: List of communicative activities

ITEM
NO.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

A. Communication with customers/guests

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

Conduct tours of hotels facilities

Arrange and inform guests of transport arrangements
Entertain VIP guests
Listen to customer enquiries
Listen to customer complaints
Answer customer enquiries on room rates orally (in person of through the telephone)
Answer customer enquiries on room rates in writing (by letter, e-mail or fax)
Answer customer enquiries on food and beverage orally (in person of through the telephone)
Answer customer enquiries on food and beverage writing (by letter, e-mail or fax)
Answer customer enquiries on hotel facilities orally (in person of through the telephone)
Answer customer enquiries on hotel facilities writing (by letter, e-mail or fax)
Answer enquiries on fire escape route in the hotel
Answer enquiries on local establishments like shops, tourist attractions, banks, etc.
Answer enquiries on local cultures
Respond to customer complaints on hotel services
Respond to complaints on food and beverage
Respond to complaints on rooms
Explain hotel policies and procedures to guests
B. Communication with managers

19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27

Fill up printed forms and log books

Listen to managers explanation of work processes
Listen to managers explanation of hotel policies, procedures, and management decisions
Listen to managers explanation on safety precautions
Listen to instructions from managers
Present ideas at meetings with managers
Discuss work-related matters with managers
Give an oral report regarding work matters to managers
Discuss ways to improve customer service with managers

44
28
29
30
31
32

Discuss ways to improve work efficiency with managers

Explain difficulties/problems arising from work to managers
Describe graphs and charts at meetings
Read memos from managers
Read circulars and notices from management
C. Communication with coworkers, and other activities

33
34
35

Relay important information to coworkers

Discuss work-related matters with coworkers
Read books, magazines, and journals to improve job knowledge and skills