Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The research objectives were 1) to investigate the English language needs and communication problems of OTOP vendors at Nongtakainoi Village in Buriram Province, 2) to develop an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course based on the communicative needs of OTOP vendors, and 3) to assess OTOP vendors’ satisfaction with the developed English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course and its instructional materials. The mixed-methods study employed the following research instruments: questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, ESP course, and satisfaction questionnaires. The population of this research was composed of the members of Nongtakainoi Silk Weaving Group, and the sample group, obtained via purposive sampling, comprised 30 OTOP sellers from this group. Quantitative data were evaluated using frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation; qualitative data were assessed using content analysis. The findings indicated that the sellers faced challenges in all four English language competencies, with speaking and listening being paramount owing to their regular interactions with overseas tourists (mean = 4.78 for speaking and 4.65 for listening). After the needs study, an ESP course on listening and speaking was created. The 12-unit training covered OTOP business communication skills. According to the interviewees’ recommendations, a bilingual English-Thai e-booklet and audio files narrated by both Thai and foreign speakers were needed. The evaluation results indicated that participants expressed a high level of satisfaction with the produced course (overall mean = 4.87). Moreover, they demonstrated the utmost pleasure with the e-booklet and English audio recordings (overall mean = 4.52). The study reveals that needs-based ESP course development can help local vendors improve communicative competence and tourism-related economic development.
Institution: Buriram Rajabhat University
Language: Thai
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7215182005