STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ON MULTILINGUALISM FOR CAREER ADVANCEMENT IN TOURISM SECTOR.

Abstrak

Racial diversity is one of the important factors contributing to multilingualism in Malaysia. The uniqueness of each language carries distinctive values that should be embraced by everyone. However, language differences might contribute to language barrier and misunderstanding due to limited knowledge of the cultural background. This is one of the biggest hindrances encountered by tourists while travelling overseas for business or casual purposes. The ability to speak more than two or more languages is considered an advantage to those who work in tourism sector. The act of mastering various languages may help to reduce communication problems. This may lead to more opportunities on career advancement in tourism sector. Hence, the aim of this research is to investigate the perception of Tourism and Hospitality students at Politeknik Merlimau regarding the importance of multilingualism in two different aspects for better job opportunities; recreational tourism and business tourism. The linguistic landscape framework is used in the instrument to justify the rationale of tourism aspects. A survey form was distributed to 100 students of Tourism and Hospitality at Politeknik Merlimau with 84 feedbacks gained from the respondents later. It can be concluded that most of the respondents agree to the importance of multilingualism in tourism sector. However, they need extra force to make it into practice during their studies, especially mastering English Language as the Lingua Franca.

Keywords: Multilingualism, Tourism, Career Advancement.