English for future tourism specialists: pilgrimage tourism

У статті розкрито питання викладання іноземної для майбутніх фахівців сфери туризму на прикладі паломницького туризму. Зазначається, що першочерговим засобом людської комунікації завжди була, є і буде мова. Аналізуються виклики сучасності, спричинені вимушеним переходом на онлайн навчання через пандемію, щодо застосування ефективних методів викладання у вищій освіті, а саме іноземної мови. Автором зазначено, що мова не існує у вакуумі, але у взаємодії з іншими мовами та культурами. Мова є невід'ємною складовою культури та вивчається через її призму Розглянуто необхідність доповнення навчальних матеріалів культурно-орієнтованою інформацією, поданою у інтерактивних завданнях з метою її активного застосування через рольові ігри, презентації, обговорення у парах чи групах. Значущим для презентації культурно-орієнтованої інформації, автор вважає насичення навчального матеріалу інформацією з спеціально-розроблених джерел, та аналізує спектр завдань на читання, слухання, говоріння та перегляд з метою практичного застосування конкретної інформації майбутніми фахівцями сфери туризму, яка, беззаперечно, зазнала викликів через пандемію. Крім того, наголошено на використанні наявних у джерелах чи рекомендованих викладачем посилань на інтернет-сайти для ознайомлення з автентичним матеріалом, що відіграє одну з вирішальних ролей у процесі онлайн-навчання здобувачів вищої освіти. Висвітлено приклад подачі матеріалу при викладанні іноземної мови для майбутніх фахівців туризму з детальним аналізом міжкультурних відмінностей під час паломницького туру до Тайланду, наведено перелік правил поведінки у буддистському храмі, можливих застережень з метою уникнення міжкультурних конфліктів. Дослідник рекомендує курси підвищення кваліфікації для викладачів, щоби йти інформаційно в ногу з швидким розвитком технологій для їх ефективного застосування у навчальному процесі.

Ключові слова: мова, культура, іноземна мова, туризм, паломницький туризм, вища освіта, професійна підготовка, майбутні фахівці сфери туризму.

The main text

Language has never been separate from culture and culture may be considered to be embodied in a language. Language is regarded as a key to a human heart. If there is a language, there is a nation, there are emotions and means of showing them, it is a key to unlock the heart and find the treasure inside. Through a language, both oral and written, humans make and write history, inherited from their forefathers, pass on knowledge and love for language to future generations encouraging them to preserve the language in order to let it survive and sustain for offspring to learn from for some new experience to be acquired.

Learning a foreign language in the epoch of globalisation to ensure the quality of rendered services, makes higher education immediately respond to the problem in order to train future experts professionally and competitively. Foreign language fluency refers to the “basic qualifications of specialists with a high level of readiness for performing professional duties, in particular, in hospitality business [2]. Given these aspects, future tourism experts, to keep abreast of the times, face an urgent need to communicate fluently in a foreign language.

Hospitality industry in cooperation with higher education establishments, set stringent requirements for future tourism experts to effectively compete in the labour market. Mastering foreign language communication skills is crucial as travelling opens doors to new countries with their own distinct traditions and peculiarities to be taken into account to conduct a dialogue properly.

The problem under research was investigated by numerous researchers in various aspects. Teaching a foreign language in higher education was researched by Ia. Andriushchenko O. Petrenko, H. Truba, V. Shcherbytska, L. Syniavska; deep research into the problem of future tourism experts training was carried out by O. Bahlai, Т. Kolbina, V. Lozovetska, V. Shafranskyi, H. Vasianovuch; teaching a foreign language to future tourism specialists was investigated and practically implemented by I. Voloshko, D. Potapenko and others. Despite a good deal of research having been done in the area of future tourism experts professional training, there still remain questions to be dealt with regarding current conditions of distance training.

The aim of the paper is to theoretically highlight and methodologically incorporate the peculiarities of foreign language teaching into the process of future tourism experts' professional training.

To start with, the point worth mentioning concerns the growing significance of foreign language learning by contemporary learners. This determines “the usage of the most effective tools of the informational and communicational technologies” to facilitate the process of foreign languages learning through “online platforms, PowerPoint presentation, training programs on CD-ROM, internet resources [5].

Due to the inevitable effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on educational process, teachers throughout the world started collaborating upon how to address the disruptive effect of the pandemic on educational process [6]. For instance, one of the ways for teachers to combine their efforts was to attend a series of webinars conducted by Earth Watch, a non-profit international environmental organisation aimed to provide educators from all over the world with the opportunity to share their personal experience, obtained in an online classroom, or connect Earth Watch scientists to receive direct answers to their frequently asked questions.

Tourism is not only considered to be a way for people to learn about the world, but also “the most promising sphere of the Ukrainian economy, which in large part contributes to the intensification of international contacts and the expansion of intercultural ties of Ukraine” [4]. Admittedly, the high performance of hospitality industry shows that tourism, as a sector of country's economy, is capable of adapting to “changing market conditions and should be supported by governments of all countries as a means of stimulating economic growth” [10]. According to S. Gossling, D. Scott, & C. Michael, “tourism largely ceased in March 2020 because of the pandemic outbreak” [7] and it seemed that tourist agents and tour operators working upon developing new and new tour routes to meet increasingly changing tourists' wishes were taken by surprise and would not cope with the challenge.

Furthermore, the pandemic did not go past pilgrimage tourism as religious gatherings to worship God were first restricted, then remained under debate. Nevertheless, the people of deep religious beliefs became more and more inspired to visit sacred places to pray for salvation. It has been proved, as shown in research done in Greece supported by ample evidence that “pilgrimage and religious tourism have shown a resilient dynamic, even in difficult times” [10].

Higher educational establishments serve as “employing institutions chosen as an example for presenting trends in national higher education transformation” [9]. Due to the comprehensive analysis carried out by both Ukrainian and foreign scientists [9], it can be stated that classrooms gradually changed to digitally-based ones through shifting to collaboration platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, Microsoft Teams as well as to Moodle, a digital learning management system. Due to these, students have already got used and adapted to live-video classes, which made them highly motived to become conscious and aware digital devices users and, consequently, diligent learners.

Despite the aforementioned challenges, methodologists are elaborating new technologies and developing updated syllabi to incorporate them into the educational process. One of most effectively designed tools for learning English is Pearson English portal. The Pearson Portal methodologists trying to reach teachers from all over the world have compiled a Handy Guide to teaching English online, the main points of which include the tips on how to choose the right teaching tools, communicate with students asynchronously via WhatsApp or Slack, that is to say, to involve students working separately by using recorded lessons or the Internet, set tasks and get distant, but precise results, organise group discussions, etc. [8]. To make students answer questions, teachers may ask them to wait in a queue or press a “hands-up button” when willing to answer off-hand. They recommend using a whiteboard or the chat box to check students' writing skills as well. Additionally, to keep students engaged and motivated, especially adult ones, there are Workbooks redeveloped into online practice interactive books giving access to learning materials wherever they want or can do the assigned tasks.

As pilgrimage tourism is an integral part of both religious and tourist activities of mankind, lots of resources include cross-cultural information based on pilgrimage information [11]. Pilgrimage tourism is based on trips to religious sites to worship miraculous icons, see relics of saints and graves of prominent religious figures, visit places of life and preach activities of prominent religious figures, look around monasteries and religious buildings with significant historical, modern, spiritual and cultural significance, pray in front of natural objects (springs and wells, caves, groves, individual trees, etc.) associated with the activities of the Mother of God, Saints, religious martyrs, etc. Often, such objects are territorially connected, which strengthens their importance as religious and recreational resources. Some settlements (Jerusalem, Mecca, Rome, etc.) are known for the world's largest concentration of religious tourists and pilgrims.

A pilgrim's journey is not just a tourist trip: they are less attracted to tourist amenities than religious tourists are. A pilgrim's journey (pilgrimage) is one of the manifestations of their faith in the dogmas of a religion, evidence of their belonging to a certain religion or denomination. Many different motives push people to make a pilgrimage tour. This is the desire to heal from spiritual or physical illnesses, to pray for families and friends, to receive grace, to gain strength, to do some work (construction, cleaning the territory of a monastery, temple, etc.). Pilgrims go on tours with the desire to express gratitude to higher forces for the blessings sent to them, to show devotion to faith, to test one's intentions and abilities for asceticism.

To embody the information mentioned above into the educational process of English language learning by future tourism experts, case study sections are a must to show students how to confidently interact with people beholden to their religion with its distinctions and discrepancies. The recommended resource to contain such information is English for Tourism 1 by Ratana Watawatana [14]. The author distinctly highlights the religious feature of the Thais. It should be mentioned that according to the Thailand 2021 international religious freedom report [12], “93 percent of the population is Theravada Buddhist and 5 percent Muslim”.

The core of the lesson delivered to future tourism experts is the information about Thailand, which also stresses that the religion there is mainly Buddhism as well as there is a muslim majority in the South, near the border with Malaysia [14]. To meet the need of distance education and provide students with authentic materials, the link to get more detailed information about the religion in Thailand is given (https://www.tourismthailand.org/Search-result/ tagword/thailand%20religion).

The provision on the necessity of learning a foreign language inextricably linked with “the culture of the people who speak a certain language has long been perceived as an axiom” regarding foreign languages teaching methodology [1]. Language is a constituent part of a culture. Cultures are based on languages and are supposed to be complicated enough to transmit the entire wealth of a culture [13]. As future tourism experts are trained to distinguish between the cultures the languages of which they learn to avoid cross-cultural conflicts through interactive teaching methods such as role-plays, group or pair speaking, teachers often resort to highlighting differences, typical of one culture to eventually make their learners cross-culturally competent [3]. Let us look at the example pertaining to the dos and don'ts during a Buddhist religious ceremony in Thailand. The students are advised to follow the link to get to the Buddhist temple in Thailand in virtual reality. https://www.exoticvoyages.com/blog/dos-and-donts-whenvisiting-a-buddhist-temple-in-thailand-35207.html. The things to know are as follows:

Dos and don'ts in a Buddhist temple