A CASE STUDY ON THE HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT FIRST YEAR STUDENT’S

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Ruby Magdalene Acol-Acol1, Danise A. Alcaraz2, Marry Grace Y. Manatad3,

Archie C. Eroy4, Jessa C. Revilla5
Tourism Management1,2,3
Hospitality Management4,5
Lourdes College, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines
acolacol.r@gmail.com1, danisealcaraz@ gmail.com2, mg_manatad05@gmail.com3,
eroyarchie@gmail.com4, jessarevilla13@gmail.com5

Abstract

Communication skills are essential for the successful future career of a student.
Communication helps students in their studies, future job interview, personal
development and future endeavors. In today’s world, communication skills in business
are the most sought after quality of an educated person. This paper aims to scrutinize the
communication skills of a first year Hospitality Management Student. Being a Hospitality
Management Student, it is a must to have a good communication skills due to the reason
that communication itself is the most important and used skills in hospitality and tourism
Industry. This study aims to identify the communication skills of a first year Hospitality
Management Student in his speaking and writing. The method used by the researchers
is qualitative method which is a Case Study. FG’s communication skill in speaking is not
well-founded in terms of intonation, grammar and fluency because he uses monotone
voice as he speaks and he is also somewhat confused in the usage of tenses thus, it will
took him awhile to utter another word for the continuation of his sentence. FG has
difficulties in terms of vocabulary and grammar due to the reason that FG write words
repeatedly even if it’s not necessary to add in his essay. The study points to the needs of
the participant to engage himself to English based poems or any kind of literatures for
him to recognize new words and improve his usage of words. He should also involve
himself to English movies for him to know how English native speakers pronounce words
or socialize to foreign people for him to enhance his way of speaking.

Keywords: Hospitality Management Student; writing skills; speaking skills; case study;
communication skills

Introduction
Communication is vital for survival and it is one of the most essential aspects in
life that humans can’t live without. Melafopulos (2008), defined communication as a two-
way process not used exclusively to send message or pass information, but to explore,
discover and generate knowledge and consensus. And yet, the semantic root of the word
communication is the same as in communion and community and it is about sharing.
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Thus, Communication is the most important and the most used of all skills in the
hospitality and tourism industry. Managers spend the largest portion of their time in verbal
or written communications with their employees or outside parties. Other staff member
communicates among themselves, as well as their managers, frontline employees
suppliers, and so on; to give and receive the information they need to perform their jobs
(Essays UK, 2013).
Hospitality management students are expected to have good communication skills
in order to understand the concerns and complaints of the customers and could respond
accordingly. Patience, virtue and good listening skills also take place in dealing people to
provide good costumer communication on verbal level by selecting the right usage of
words from the context of the conversation. According to Gibson (2015), Communicating,
in a meaningful way is not necessarily a natural skill. It is important that managers and
staff are trained to communicate effectively. Effective hotel managers have developed the
ability to communicate “how” and “why” things are done.
In the hospitality industry there are problems that are encountered both by students
and workers. Communication has a wide scope that may lead to misinterpretation and
misunderstanding. Failures in communication take place in various circumstances and
conditions: at home, at work, between social and ethnic classes, between religions and
nations. They can lead both to small complications or troubles in everyday life and large-
scale conflicts between societal groups and cultures (Mustajoki, 2014). Hospitality
management students should be equipped by the fundamental knowledge and skills of
having good writing, verbal and non-verbal communication to be able to understand and
respond to every person with value and respect.
In this study the researchers seek to assess the communication skills of the first
year hospitality management student by the participant’s speaking and writing skills. The
speaking skills of the student would be assessing by using the intonation, organization,
grammar, pronunciation and fluency. The writing skills would be assessed by
organization, vocabulary, grammar and mechanics. Hence this study is formulated and
conceptualized.

Methodology
This research paper used the qualitative research method. According to Crossman
(2018), Qualitative research is a type of social science research that collects and works
with non-numerical data and that seeks to interpret meaning from these data that helps
the researchers to understand social life through the study of targeted populations or
places. The type of qualitative research method used by the researchers in this paper is
case study. The study aims to give a detailed description of a case study – its definition,
some classifications, and several advantages and disadvantages – in order to provide a
better understanding of this widely used type of qualitative approach (Starman, 2013). In
this research paper, case study is used to investigate the communication skills of a first
year hospitality management student by having an interview and follow up questions to
identify the participant’s level of communication and writing skills. The participant of this
study is a first year student called “FG” not his real name. The researchers chose this
participant to be the subject in this study because of the reasons that he knew the
importance of communication in hospitality management and being in the same program

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with the researchers the participant surely know the essence of how hospitality and
tourism management work.

Results and Discussion

In the hospitality management industry, communication is one of the most
important aspects that a person should manifest because having a good speaking and
writing skills is the top qualifications in the hotelier and tourism industry. Thus, Effective
communication in this field serves as a good connection between the staff and customers.

Participant’s Profile
FG, not his real name, is an 18 years old, graduated at Misamis Oriental General
Comprehensive High School and received an academic award in his Junior High School
and finished his Senior High School at STI College. The participant currently resides at
Zone 8 Cugman,Cagayan de Oro City. And his parents are Juliet not his mother’s real
name and Romeo not his father’s real name. His father is already dead when he was 3
years old. While his mother is working in one of the hotels here in Cagayan de Oro City
in the past 3 years and right now she is a fulltime housewife. FG has already a stepfather
therefore he is separated to his mother and living in his aunt. His parents did not contribute
on his communication skills because his both parents did not attain higher level of
education. Moreover, the participant rated his speaking skills 5 in the range of 1-10
because he is not good in constructing his ideas. He is not also fluent in speaking in
English and he’s not confident in public speaking. Unlike his writing skills, the participant
rated himself 7 because in writing, he can easily compose stories due to his wide
imaginations. The problem that the participant encountered in his speaking includes
pronunciation of words, grammar and fluency. While in writing it is the grammar,
vocabulary and the organization of words.

Participant’s Speaking Skills

Being a hospitality management student, it is imperative to have good verbal skills
since it is one of the basic requirements in the hospitality and tourism management
industry. In the near future the students of this course will be deployed and will be facing
different nationalities. Thus, having effective communication between the guests and
customers is expected because there will be giving and receiving different kind of
information.

Intonation
Intonation is the rising and falling of pitch in a person’s voice it plays a crucial role
in how people express meaning. It is the highness, lowness or the tone unit as a whole
prominence, key and orientation (Brazil, 1997). In the middle of the interview, the
researcher noticed that the participant doesn’t usually use paralanguage. He often uses
monotone voice which is a way of talking without raising or lowering the sound of the
voice. Without the participant’s proper use of intonation the researchers would never
identify the feeling and the attitude of the participant. Some people have described being
very surprised to learn that they talk in a monotone because their voice doesn’t sound
that way to them. So it could be that there’s some kind of miscommunication between the
brain centres that control reception and production of speech (Oakley, 2014). Most people
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do not speak at the same pitch, that is, in a monotone, due to linguistic and communicative
demands. Speakers have to vary their pitch to enhance their message. Sentence type,
word and sentence stress, and affective content are all denoted through variations in the
voice (Baken and Orlikoff, 2000). Failure to vary one’s pitch would significantly diminish
the ability to communicate emotions and in some cases to express the message itself.
For example, a speaker who says “I love this place” could use pitch variability to convey
either the surface meaning of the sentence or, through sarcastic inflections, the opposite
of the surface meaning (Cumbers, 2013).

Organization
Organization was defined as a proper arranging and constructing of ideas before
uttering something. In order to justify and persuade anyone it is important to organize the
words eligibly (Pearson et al. 2005). Being a first year student, organizing of ideas and
constructing of words before saying them is very crucial because it is necessary to choose
words that will perfectly describe something, short and concise. Thus, in making a
sentence, if need a thorough analysis because it might offend the receiver of the
message. The participant’s organization of words was poor, as the researcher conducted
the interview with some random question the participant, he only answers the question
by yes and no, he did not further explain his answers. Non-English speaker students have
this fear of being misunderstood while speaking. In public speaking to be exact, even
conventions are culturally comfortable it can always cause anxiety that results of messing
up the organization of thoughts (LeBeau, 2007).

Grammar
Grammar of a language is what happens to words when they have plural or
negative, or what word order is used when making questions or join two clauses to make
one sentence Aquino (2002). The importance of grammar in the field of hospitality
management is as important of the communication itself for the reason that it is the basis
of what does the message meant to be thus, the message needs to be constructed
perfectly so that the receiver will understand and will give a concrete response to the
sender. Based on the interview conducted by the researchers it was found that the
participant has problems in his usage of grammar specifically the usage of tenses. He
sometimes uses past tense instead of present tense and there are a lot of word fillers
before he can actually say what he wanted to say. It is important to use tenses correctly
in order to be able to speak accurately about time. However, using tenses can be very
difficult, for several reasons. Some languages (unlike English) do not have a tense
system; it is difficult to get all the different parts in a sentence correct; the passive and
active voice is often confused by students (Fei, 2017). For example, in Mandarin Chinese
there are no grammatical tenses but only aspect (the degree to which an action is
completed, not completed or in process); in Khmer (Cambodian), there may or may not
be tenses (some would say there is only aspect; both languages the verbs themselves
are not marked for tense (nor for person, number, gender or anything else). Another point
of difficulty in verb tense is in the use of a sentence pattern in the present tense with a
subject in the third person singular. This is another case of an absent category in any of
the Philippine languages, especially Tagalog (Aramburo, 1970). Many times native

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speakers will favour being polite over repeatedly correcting a non-native speaker (Miracle,
2016).

Pronunciation
Pronunciation is defined as one of the phoneme of the English language with a
mixture of phonics in any language in the world. English pronunciation is almost nothing
certain about. No other language in the world has more words spelled the same way and
yet pronounced differently (Bryson, 1990). Based on the interview that was conducted
by the researchers, the participant’s pronunciation is quite satisfactory given the fact that
some of his diction was not clear enough because the participant stutter and sometimes
mispronounce words as he speaks. One of the most striking errors that Filipino students
of English make is in their mode of expression (diction). The meaning that is associated
with a certain morpheme, word or expression of a language is not always applicable to
another (Aramburo, 1970). Diction is word choice. When writing or speaking, it is the
choice of vocabulary suited for a type of message (Strunk and White, 2000).

Fluency
Speech fluency has two meanings. In the broader sense, fluency seems to mean
global oral proficiency, and in the narrower sense, it can be considered as a component
of oral proficiency (Lennon, 1990). During the interview the researcher noticed that the
participant is not fluent in speaking due to the reason that he usually use filler sound as
an expression of hesitation such as “um…” and “uh...” Fluency is integral to the reading
process. It enables students to increase their level of comprehension, expand their
vocabulary and complete reading tasks more expediently (Allington, 2006).

Participant’s Writing Skills

Having a good writing skills in a field of hospitality management student plays a
very substantial rule especially in the future endeavor because there will be a lot written
type of communication for the guests and even for the employees. It is important
especially for the soon to be managers and front desk employees because it will be their
job to do written tasks in the hospitality and tourism management industry. Good writing
skills will allow a person to deliver his/her words with clarity and ease.

Organization
Organization is a basic premise that provides a forum for organizing ideas and
resources connected with one another (Eliason, 2001). Organization typically refers to
the large elements of text structure. Sometimes these elements are formalized in practice,
as in the typical lab report, through consistent use of headings. Sometimes elements of
organization are only informally acknowledged -like the thesis of an academic paper. Most
writers across the university would agree, however, that organization refers to the
ordering of ideas (Keifer, 2018). Based on the result that the researcher administrate, it
has been shown that FG has the capability to construct his sentences properly by
ensuring that the information is within the sentences. Thus, the participant can follow
some of the grammar rule properly like: using singular subject in a singular verb and plural
subject in a plural verb. Unlike his organization in speaking skills, the participant is above
average in his organization in writing. Because, he is able to organize his words well and
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appropriately. Organization is important for two reasons. Not only does it help the student
and readers understand the connection between the details of the essay and your thesis,
but also organization itself can help you write the essay in the first (Kies, 2017).

Vocabulary
There are strong need to develop certain strategies in building and learning
vocabulary. Words have no absolute or fixed meaning. The words found in the dictionary
don’t have concrete meaning unless it is used in the context of a sentence, paragraph, or
chapter (Ang, 2010). The researchers noticed in the participant’s essay that his
vocabulary is moderate. Because the errors that he usually commits in his essay is
repeatedly using the words “and”, “then” and “the”. Improves when you know what the
words mean. Since reading, it just cannot be overestimated the importance of vocabulary
development. Words are the currency of communication (Alexander, 2017). Whether
writing professionally at work or for reports in school, it should have a vocabulary that will
provide for clear communication of your ideas and thoughts (Kurtus, 2012). Research
indicates that low levels of vocabulary can have an impact reading and therefore writing
vocabulary can be described as the “glue” that holds stories, ideas and communicate
`effectively (Robertson, 2015).

Grammar
Grammar is a practice and study of rules by which words change its form and
combined into sentences (Aquino, 2002). Grammar is the sound, structure, and meaning
system of language. All languages have grammar, and each language has its own
grammar (Chin, 2000). The participant’s grammar has a lot of errors in his usage of
present and past tense. It is traced based on what he wrote in his essay for example, he
used the words “separate” instead of “separated” and “is” rather than “was”. Grammar is
important because it provides information that helps the reader’s comprehension. It is the
structure that conveys precise meaning from the writer to the audience. Eliminate
grammatical errors from your writing, and reward your readers with clear communication
(Macmillian, 2017).

Mechanics
Mechanics refers to the rules of the written language, such as capitalization,
punctuation and spelling. An understanding of both grammar and mechanics is required
to clearly communicate your ideas in a paper. In composition, the conventions governing
the technical aspects of writing, including spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and
abbreviations. Getting the main points together can be a challenge, and one solution is
to put together a draft of main ideas before writing (Nordquist, 2017). As the researcher
conducted the research the researcher let the participant write a letter. The participants
writing skills are above average, because based on the findings of the study, the
researcher have asked the question “How do you see yourself 10 years from now?” and
the participant has wrote “I see myself 10 years from now as a successful person working
in a high class restaurant and by God’s grace. I will be able to achieve my greatest goal
which is to become a professional chef.” As the research had shown, the participant’s
writing skills is above average, since he has wrote with correct grammar, capitalization,
and punctuation marks. He has the knowledge on how to use basic writing language such
6
as capitalization, punctuation and spelling. In composition, the conventions governing the
technical aspects of writing, including spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and
abbreviations, getting you main points together can be a challenge, and one solution is
to put together a draft of main ideas before writing Nordquist (2017).

Conclusion and Recommendation

Overall, the participant’s communication skill in speaking is not good in terms of
intonation, grammar and fluency because the participant uses monotone voice
sometimes as he speaks and he is also somewhat confused in the usage of tenses thus,
it will took him awhile to utter another word for the continuation of his sentence. In regards
of the participant’s writing skill, he is having difficulties in terms of vocabulary and
grammar due to the reason that FG write words repeatedly even if it’s not necessary to
add in his essay, the same as his speaking skills the participant has also difficulties in
using the right tenses in his sentences. The study points to the needs of the participant
to engage himself to English based poems or any kind of literatures for him to recognize
new words and improve his usage of words. He should also involve himself to English
movies for him to know how English native speakers pronounce words or socialize to
foreign people for him to enhance his way of speaking plus, attend seminars for English
proficiency.

APPENDIX A
PARTICIPANT’S TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW

Age: 18
Gender: Male
Address: Zone 8 Cugman, Cagayan de Oro City
Religion: Roman Catholic
Educational Background:
The participant is currently studying at Lourdes College with a course of Hospitality
Management.

Questions:
1. Tell me about yourself?
Uhhm my name is Fritz Gentallan I live in Cugman Cagayan de Oro City uhmm I have
two siblings both girls. I am the eldest among of my siblings and uhm my mother is a
housewife and my father is already deceased but I have a stepfather now and I am living
with my mother in Claveria so now I am living with my aunt at Kisanlu Cagayan de Oro
City and….. I am studying at Lourdes College, Lourdes College taking up BSHRM and
now uhmm I’m pursuing my studies to graduate uhmm and uhmm to work after I graduate.

2. Why did you choose Lourdes College?

I choose uhmm Lourdes College because I heard and also I read that Lourdes College
is very high standard on BSHRM that is why I take took Lourdes because there is a course
that I want to take on which is BSHRM and that is why I choose Lourdes College.

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 3. Why did you choose BSHM as your course?
This course is in line with my dreams.

4. What is your background in communication in high school?

Since high school I used to speak in bisaya because I am struggling .. galisod? In
speaking or in speaking English but since I choose the course of BSHM I am practicing
in speaking now English language.

5. Summarize the last movie you’ve watched.

Black Panther. There is a Black-American who is living with a blood of a panther and
then he lived in outside which is his place of Wakanda so the Wakanda his place is being
hide to people because they have a weapons that can use to attack other country and he
went back to his country because there is something happened to his country which is
the throne on who will be the next leader of their country the Wakanda place, I think that’s
it. That is what I remember in the movie.

APPENDIX B
PARTICIPANT’S ESSAY

1. When was the last time you did something for the first time? And why did you do it?
The last thing I did for the first time is when I go to my friends house and we try to
drink some alcohol. First reason why I did it is because of problems I’m facing that day I
just thought that alcohol could ease the pain I’m feeling. The second reason is out of
curiosity I just want to taste and know what is the feeling of drinking an alcohol.

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