Exploring the relevance of the English language content in hospitality and tourism communication courses offered at two South African Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges

Abstract

This study was conducted in South Africa, specifically at two Technical and Vocational Educational and Training (TVET) colleges in the Tshwane and Vhembe districts, from 2022 to 2025. It aimed to evaluate the relevance of the English language content used in the hospitality and tourism communication courses as they relate to the National Accredited Technical Education Diploma (NATED) offered by these two TVET colleges. It also sought to explore how well the English language content itself is aligned with practices within the hospitality and tourism communication. The main research question of the study was: In what ways is the English language content of the communication courses of the two NATED programmes provided by the two TVET colleges relevant to both hospitality and tourism communication skills requirements? The study employed an interpretivist research paradigm and an exploratory research design, and was guided by English for specific purposes (ESP) as its overarching approach. It had 38 participants consisting of lecturers (n = 15) and N6 Communication and N5 Tourism Communication students (n = 23) from both colleges. Overall, the study analysed ten data sets garnered from the two data collection methods mentioned earlier. The ten data sets were as follows: the first two data sets were the English language content of the two textbooks, N6 Communication and N5 Tourism Communication, used at the two TVET colleges; the second two data sets were about the interviews with two groups of lecturers at the Tshwane TVET College; the third two data sets related to the interviews with two groups of lecturers at the Vhembe TVET College; and the fourth data sets pertained to the interviews with four groups of students, two groups from each TVET college. Some of the key findings of the study revealed that the prescribed textbooks contain decontextualised language structures, the courses predominantly focus on language structures or forms that do not encourage students how to apply them to real-world hospitality and tourism contexts. Participants mentioned that the English language content should be revised and realigned by tailoring it to suit the hospitality and tourism fields. To do so, the jargon and phraseology of the two textbooks need to be contextualised. The study makes recommendations and conclusions. For instance, it argues that the English language content and communication skills of the N6 Communication course and the N5 Tourism Communication course need to be tailored to suit the communication needs of the hospitality and tourism fields. In addition, the study presented a brief proposed sample alternative chapter model for the English language content to exemplify the expected kind of language to be used in the specified textbooks. The findings of this study have implications for policymakers, students, and lecturers in the TVET college contexts.