Pelatihan Bahasa Inggris untuk Layanan Wisata Berdasarkan Kebutuhan Lokal Bagi Pemilik Homestay di Kepulauan Raja Ampat Papua Barat

Abstract

The development of tourist visits to the Raja Ampat Islands of West Papua is so rapidly in the
last five years (2010-2015), but it is not supported by the readiness of local people to serve
tourists which leads local government thinks hard to find a solution. Because nearly 90% of
tourists who come to Raja Ampat - one of the leading Indonesian archipelagoes maritime
destinations - are foreign tourists, the regional government decided to cooperate with tourism
colleges to train local people, especially their English language skills to serve foreign tourists.
This study aims at answering a question: How to provide training of English for serving
tourists based on local needs for homestay owners in the Raja Ampat Islands of West Papua?
This case study is to answer the research question comprehensively about what, how and why
the subjects studied (Yin, 2009). The time of research was from September until December
2014 located in Raja Ampat Islands with two English language teachers and 60 homestay
owners representing four tribes in Raja Ampat, i.e. Usba, Sopen, Wardo and Amber as
research subjects. The 1st stage study was based on local needs analysis approach and then
followed by action research on the 2nd stage. Needs of English language knowledge for
homestay owners were revealed in the 1st stage and then they were given training during the
2nd stage with the material in the form of a conversation between homestay owners and
tourists from tourist arrivals in the closest airport/port to the departure of tourists from the
nearby airport/port. The data collection techniques include (1) observation and field notes, (2)
questionnaires and (3) in-depth interviews. The techniques are the basis for the analysis using
triangulation method. The research findings show that: (1) a suitable approach used in the
training of English for serving tourists based on local needs for homestay owners in the Raja
Ampat Islands of West Papua is by using teaching through relationships; (2) at an early
stage, the activity of learning is mostly done by imitating and repeating the same structure
continuously; (3) the next learning stage is to remember dialogue. Learners were given short
dialogs and then asked to memorize expressions in the dialog, and then it ended by practices;
and (4) after they were proficient with the conversations, they exchanged roles each other to
practice the dialogs had been memorized. The results also imply that the training of English
for serving tourists is not only effective for improving English speaking skill for the
homestay owners in the Raja Ampat Islands, but also raises awareness of the importance of
service quality to serve tourists in order improve the welfare of local people.
Keywords: English for serving tourists, local needs, homestay owners