Analysis of Visuals and Vocabulary in Two English for Tourism Textbooks: English for International Tourism, Intermediate Students’ Book (2003) and Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Global Edition(2021)

Abstract

The present research work is an attempt to analyze two ESP textbooks designed for teaching English for Tourism Purposes (ETP). The first textbook is entitled English for International Tourism, Intermediate Students’ Book (2003) and the other is entitled Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, Global Edition (2021). Visual resources and vocabulary are the main focus in this study. Therefore, in order to conduct the analysis we have opted for two checklists: Yazdanmehr and Shoghi’s (2014) checklist based on the visual resources and Hussin, et. al. (2015) checklist based on vocabulary. The aim in this dissertation is to find which type of images is prioritized; whether instructional or decorative, and also to find whether the visuals, as well as the vocabulary in the two textbooks are appropriate. We advocated that instructional visuals are prioritized, the images are appropriate both in terms of relevance to content and visual attraction, we also suggested that vocabulary is appropriately presented. In order to analyze the data we have used the Mixed Method research that is a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. According to the obtained results the first two suggested hypotheses are refuted and the last one is confirmed. The findings of the study have shown that the non- instructional (decorative) visual elements are prioritized over instructional ones and the checklist of visual effects demonstrates that visuals in English for International Tourism (2003) are appropriate in terms of relevance to content while those used in Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism (2021) are more appropriate in terms of visual attraction. As for the checklist of vocabulary shows that both textbooks match most of the principles addressed in the checklist.