Investigating Language Functions in English for Tourism: The Case of ENST in Algiers

Abstract

The present study investigates the field of English for tourism which has become a well-established field within English for Specific Purposes. It seeks to identify the functions of language suggested to teach tourism in ENST (Ecole Nationale Supérieure du Tourisme), identify the genre of texts suggested to teach English in this field and check to what extent these language functions and tourism texts meet learners’ needs and expectations. To achieve these objectives, three distinctive theoretical frameworks have been considered namely; Dudley-Evans & St John; Hutchinson & Waters’ views on ESP and needs analysis, Roman Jacobson’s functions of language ,and Sabrina Francesconi views on genres of text in the tourism sector. To investigate, a Mixed Method Approach has been followed .Thus, a questionnaire has been distributed to sixty (60) learners of tourism at ENST in Algiers and an interview has been conducted with one English module teacher at ENST in Algiers. In order to analyze the data, the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) is used for statistical data analysis while textual analysis helped to interpret the results of the interview as well as in the analysis of tourism texts. On the basis of the results of the study, it is concluded that the functions of language suggested to teach tourism in ENST are very crucial and important in the tourism sector. Furthermore, the genre of texts namely; descriptive, expositive and argumentative, suggested to teach English for tourism are very helpful in preparing the learners understand and get informed about how the tourism industry works. Moreover, needs analysis reveals that these language functions and tourism texts meet learners’ needs. The results also reveal the importance of effective communication in the tourism industry.