A Survey of English Communication Difficulties Faced by the Front Office Hotel Department in Palembang

English is an international language used to communicate with guests from various countries. Hotel guests vary, not only domestic guests but also foreign guests, therefore English communication skills must be possessed by hotel staff, especially in the front office to provide the best service to guests. Therefore this study aimed at investigating the difficulties faced by the hotel front office and the strategies used to overcome these difficulties. This study used quantitative survey methods. The sample in this study were 119 employees of the Front Office hotel department selected purposively. The data collection was done through a survey questionnaire. The results were analyzed by survey or data display, explanation, and conclusion. The results of this study revealed that (1) front office hotels get various kinds of difficulties in English communication; the aspect of cultural awareness (M=338.00), understanding guests’ accents (M=333.00), the aspect of grammar (M=324.33), the aspect of self-confidence (M=321.00), then fluency aspect (M=313.67), pronunciation aspect (M=301.00), listening comprehension aspect (M=297.75), the voice quality aspect (M=273.00), and the vocabulary aspect (M=271.00). (2) The front office hotel employees’ strategies for overcoming their English communication difficulties are including the achievement or compensatory aspect (M=348.20) followed by the avoidance or reduction aspect (M=322.25). The results of this research indicate that most of front office hotels faced difficulties in English communication with foreign guests and have strategies to overcome the difficulties, then also need English courses and training to handle foreign guests to improve their English communication skills.

Keywords: English Communication Difficulties, English Communication Strategy, and Front Office Hotel.