Problems and Proposed Strategies for Solving the English Problems of Thai Staff Working at a European Airline Call Center

Kris Lietz; Michael Ginn Lietz; Nittayanan Natee

ผู้แต่ง

Kris Lietz มหาวิทยาลัยนอร์ทกรุงเทพ, ประเทศไทย
Michael Ginn Lietz สายการบินลุฟท์ฮันซา เยอรมัน, ประเทศไทย
Nittayanan Natee มหาวิทยาลัยนอร์ทกรุงเทพ, ประเทศไทย

คำสำคัญ:

กลยุทธ์ที่เสนอ, ปัญหาภาษาอังกฤษ

บทคัดย่อ

The objectives of this research were: 1) to find out some problems of the Thai staff working at a European airline call center in using English at work, and 2) to find out some strategies to solve the English problems in the immediate and long-term context. The respondents were 90 call center staff working at an international airline company in Thailand. In this study, there were 2 main research instruments; namely, 1) a questionnaire composed of the five-point Likert scale and open-ended questions which was employed to collect the data and information, along with semi-structured interviews with three respondents, and 2) a set of questions employed in the focus discussion meeting among the three specialists for the approval of the correctness and suitability of the proposed strategies for solving the English problems in the immediate and long-term context . The data and information collected through the questionnaire were analyzed and presented in terms of frequency count, mean ( ) and standard deviation (SD). In addition, the data and information collected from the focus group discussion meeting towards correctness and suitability of the proposed strategies were analyzed through the Content Analysis Method (Twin, 2025). The results indicated rare to moderate frequency of problems in the four language skills, including understanding caller accents for listening, application of appropriate wording for speaking, distinguishing between literal and implied meaning for reading, and applying acceptable word patterns and grammatical rules for writing. In addition, the results also indicated some proposed strategies for the Thai staff at a European airline call center to consult for immediately solving problems in using English at work were focusing on key words, using simple words, avoiding jargon, conducting online vocabulary search and translation, referring to templates and asking colleagues for help. In addition, some proposed strategies used for long-term solving problems were continuous practicing of skills and the use of media such as movies, books and music (Oxford, 1990a).

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