Running head: SPANISH BEHIND THE LINE

Spanish behind the Line

ESL Communication Breakdowns in the Food & Beverage Industry: a Task-based Approach to
ESP Needs Analysis
Taylor Chlapowski, Antonella Gazzardi, and April Hannon
TSL 5372
03/29/2016

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Table of Contents

Introduction.....4
Context ....4
Factors for needs analysis......5
Target and resource groups5-6
Research questions....6
Literature review7-12
Task-based language teaching..........7
ESP in the hospitality industry..9
Methodology.12-14
Participants and settings12
Procedures and instruments.13-14
Materials.14
Analysis..14
Findings.15
Qualitative data....15
Interview with Chef X..15
English-speaking participants.17

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Spanish-speaking participants....19
Quantitative data.22
Discussion and conclusion........24
Analysts contributions ........27
References .........29
Appendixes.........31

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Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to describe the assessment of the needs of English language
learners in the Hospitality/Service industry. In particular, this paper focuses on the development of
a needs analysis that was carried out in a specific context in order to determine the English
language needs of kitchen staff in a restaurant. The paper is arranged with background
information of the setting and the participants for whom we conducted the current needs analysis
discussed first, with a literature review which presents relevant research on task-based language
teaching (TBLT), and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in the hospitality industry in the
following section. The subsequent and final sections present the methodology, the instruments,
the findings, a discussion of the results, and our recommendations for a task-based curriculum.
We conclude this needs analysis with a brief statement discussing the individual contributions of
each of the three needs analysts who completed this project.
Context
The setting for our needs analysis is a fairly new restaurant in Tampa, Florida named Roux.
Part of the Datz Restaurant group, and the third restaurant by owners Roger and Suzanne Perry,
Roux has been open since August of 2014. Roux is a niche restaurant that serves authentic creolestyle cuisine in a upscale casual dining atmosphere. Roux has many employees that perform a
variety of roles in the day-to-day operation of the restaurant, such as bartenders, waitstaff,
bussers, hosts, and kitchen staff. Since the restaurant is situated in South Tampa, the medium
language used by the clientele and the staff is English. Though most of the employees at this
restaurant speak English as their first language, there are six members of the kitchen staff who are
L1 Spanish speakers with various levels of English proficiency. Roux does not provide English

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lessons for its employees, and subsequently, it is assumed upon employment that each employee
possesses the adequate English skills necessary to complete their respective jobs.
Factors for Needs Analysis
The current needs analysis was driven by several factors, which were pragmatic as well as
research driven. For the pragmatic factors, one of the needs analysts is also an employee of the
restaurant, and she noticed that the Spanish-speaking staff in the kitchen seemed to have trouble
reading modified tickets, and some difficulty communicating with other staff members during
their shifts. Based on these initial observations, the restaurant was chosen as the context for our
needs analysis, in order to determine if language proficiency did have an affect on task
completion at Roux. From the research perspective, though there have been various studies that
focus on ESP for hospitality industry employees, we are not aware of any needs analysis that has
been conducted specifically for kitchen staff in an English-speaking restaurant in the United
States, and thus identified a gap in ESP needs analysis research. Based on these factors, the
current needs analysts were given permission from the management staff at Roux to collect data
and conduct the study.
Target Group
Of the six Spanish-speaking kitchen staff at Roux, three took part in our needs analysis. They
represent various levels of English proficiency and all speak Spanish as their first language. The
participants are from Cuba, Mexico, and Colombia, all male, between the ages of 34 and 35. One
had received English lessons before coming to the United States, while the others had learned
English after their arrival. The participants had resided in the United States from between 12 to 18

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years. Each of the participants had various roles in the kitchen, from preparing food, washing
dishes, and cooking on the line.
Resource Group
In order to triangulate our data sources and develop a complete picture of the needs of the
Spanish-speaking kitchen staff, we also collected data from several additional sources besides our
target group. Five members of the waitstaff/kitchen staff also filled out questionnaires, and the
chef of Roux, a domain-insider expert, provided an interview as well. Four of the five
waitstaff/kitchen staff spoke English as their first language, three were female, one male, and
were between the ages of 23 to 49. The fifth member of the waitstaff spoke Russian as her first
language, and Spanish, English and Romanian as subsequent languages. We piloted our
questionnaires with the multilingual staff member in order to determine whether our translations
were clear and our questions were understandable as well. In addition to piloting our surveys, we
consulted a certified Spanish translator and an applied linguist in order to provide feedback before
we administered our surveys. A more detailed description of our methodology and instruments
will be discussed in the following sections of this paper.
Research Questions
We approached this needs analysis with several concepts in mind, from research into TBLT to
ESP in the hospitality industry. We wanted to determine which tasks were most affected by the
language level of the kitchen staff and also which of the four traditional skills was most used for
task completion in the restaurant kitchen. Our needs analysis was driven by four research
questions. (1) How does language proficiency relate to successful communication between
kitchen staff in the hospitality/food industry? (2) What language skills are most important for

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successful task completion in a restaurant kitchen? (3) What level of proficiency is necessary for
successful communication? (4) How would English lessons improve communication at Roux? We
also included several questions that deal with affective factors, such as motivation to learn a
foreign language and attitudes and beliefs about language use and language learning. The
affective questions were included as we also considered that the attitudes of the staff might affect
task completion in the restaurant, but the primary focus of our needs analysis was language
proficiency in its relationship to task completion, which was propelled by the four research
questions listed above.
Literature Review
The following literature review is arranged thematically around two main concepts; Taskbased curriculum design and English for Specific Purposes in the hospitality/service industry. The
first section of the literature review presents the relevant research from two Needs Analyses
designed using a task-based approach. The last section of the literature review presents the current
research on English language use in the hospitality industry. In our analysis, we sought to
combine a task-based approach to potential curriculum design as well as relevant findings from
ESP research, specifically focusing on the hospitality/service industry sector.
TBLT
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, curriculum design in the language classroom shifted from
communicative language teaching to task-based approaches. This shift occurred when the focus of
language learning moved from the language itself to the purpose for which the learners were
using the language (Campbell, MacPherson & Sawkins, 2015). Curriculum designers then began
to identify and organize the elements of language use that were most beneficial to learners in

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specific contexts. The rationale for this new type of curriculum design was for language
classrooms to approximate the real world contexts that the learners would enter after leaving the
language classroom. According to needs analysts Campbell, MacPherson and Sawkins (2015),
research suggests that higher education institutions were not able to adequately address the needs
of learners entering the workplace, and consequently newcomers (immigrants) were not able to
perform in the workplace following their language training. Campbell et al. (2015)designed a
needs analysis combining activity theory with a task-based language teaching design in order to
create a curriculum which suited learners who were entering the separate fields of higher
education and the workplace, specifically focusing on recent immigrants who arrived in British
Columbia. Through the use of corpus linguistics data, professional documents, and institutional
standards, the researchers conducted a task-based needs analysis which informed their curriculum
design. This TBLT curriculum focused on tasks, or curricular units, which approximated the realworld activities that the learners would engage in once they left the institution and entered the
Canadian workplace (Campbell et al, 2015).
In a similar study, needs analyst Sorin Huh (2006) used a task-based design to conduct a needs
analysis of the business English needs of Korean learners of English in a Korean business context.
The aim of this study was to improve the business English skills of the learners by designing a
curriculum which would provide them with the language needed in order to complete real-world
business tasks. According to Suh (2006), the underlying principle of task-based language teaching
is to formulate pedagogic tasks that mimic the real-world ones that language learners will
complete in the workplace or other fields (Suh, 2006). Using online interviews and
questionnaires, Suh found that the Korean business students acknowledged the importance of
English in completing their work, and that most of the students did not feel that the language

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classes that they received adequately addressed their business English needs. Based on the results
from the task-based needs analysis, Suh concludes that an ESP course focused on business
English should incorporate tasks that reflect the real-world activities that the learners will engage
in, as well as keep a balance between learner wants and real-world needs (Suh, 2006).
ESP in the Hospitality Industry
In the 21 st Century, Needs Analysis continues to be carried out in a variety of contexts and in
response to varied special learners needs (Serafini, Lake, & Long, 2015), and it has become
increasingly sophisticated since the early days of ESP research (p.13). Among the wide range of
occupational domains Needs Analyses have been targeting, settings that have drawn researchers
interest lately are those connected to tourism and hospitality among others: in fact, as Jeou-Shyan
and Liu (2008) argue, the ultimate customers in hospitality education are not the [potential]
students of hospitality-related courses but the society in general, and assessing gaps [in]
existing student competencies can be greatly useful in curriculum and instruction design to
improve competencies and performance (p.3). Therefore, such Needs Analyses aim at
highlighting the necessary competencies for success in the hospitality industry (p.4). The findings
of their study show a need to improve curricula for university-level hospitality students in Taiwan
in many respects; however, what stands out is their strong desire to be better prepared on an
international service level, which translates into enhanced foreign language ability (p.24). In other
words, education in this area needs to be strengthened to better reflect the urgency of students
learning needs (p.24). Such a conclusion is confirmed by Petrovska (2012), according to whom
language policy and staff training should be reexamined and innovated (p.370) in specific
hospitality contexts, like the EFL Macedonian hospitality one she analyzes, in order to respond
adequately to requirements for better language competence in a global international context

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(p.370). Wozniak (2010) confirms the paramount importance of communication in the tourism
business, a skill whose improvement seems to be more urgent than the improvement of technical
ones (p.250). Her study focused on a highly specialized niche in the industry, that of French
mountain guides, which she calls a terra incognita for linguists, and it targeted their foreign
language proficiency needs, mainly in English, pointing out how their language mastery must be
up to the task: she reached the same conclusion that being able to interact is, simply, essential
(p.250).
Similarly, Afzali and Rezapoorian (2014) point out that despite the need to communicate
effectively for ESL [learners] engaged in jobs related to tourism industry, they do not perform
efficiently while communicating with their customers (p.53) or colleagues. Communication
breakdowns can be traced back to a lack in pragmatic competence, which has caught researchers
attention in an attempt to solve the issue (p.53) in the case of Iranian tourism employees as well as
in that of Macedonian ones. The language of hospitality, English has posed the same problem to
Thai tourism employees whose needs have never been sufficiently surveyed in order to determine
their English mastery requirements, according to Prachanant (2012, p. 118). Based on the current
research, there seems to be international consensus on the existence of an ESL/EFL
communicative problem in hospitality businesses as well as on the inadequate attempt to remedy
the issue itself.
Prachanants study (2102) has tried to address pragmatic competence needs of learners to
attend to content, design, and implementation of [an adequate] English programme (p.124) by
finding out which ESL/EFL skill mastery such ESP learners need to prioritize, and which must
therefore be addressed first by language programs: results showed that speaking and listening
ranked higher in learners needs, the most frequent problems being using inappropriate words

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and expressions in speaking, being unable to understand accents, having inadequate
vocabulary and lacking grammar knowledge (p. 123). It must be noted that although this list
of issues may very well work for ESL line cooks working in a Florida-based high-volume
restaurant, the hierarchy of skills may only to a degree: Thai tour guides working in Thailand may
not need to read as much English as a Florida-based line cook must, instead, with regular as well
as modified tickets coming in at high speed during rush hour.
Afzali and Rezapoorian (2014) aimed at tracing back perceived incompetence in performing
specific speech acts by Iranian tourism students to its source, which appeared to be the low
frequency exposure to said act samples by course-books (p.58): in other words, insufficient
exposure to authentic language in real life situations would be the weakness in hospitalityprepping English courses. Petrovska (2102) targeted instead the perceived (lack of) satisfaction of
hospitality employees with their language training and acquired competence: she came to the
conclusion that hotel management and language instruction is not satisfactory to prepare hotel
operators to the new challenges of an international globalized economy (p.373). While
Prachanants and Afzali and Rezapoorians studies try to zoom in on more concrete sources of
issues in English competence, Petrovska reaches a broader conclusion without identifying
priorities or specific curriculum targets. Weak curricula nevertheless remain the bottom line.
Yet another approach is Ewerts (2013), who shifts her focus on the different needs of adult
learners in ESL/EFL programs in particular: their age range would add a further nuance to the
picture. The developmental path to economic success for said older students is, perhaps,
particularly precarious due to this population diversity, in terms of previous schooling,
experiences, degrees of literacy, English language proficiency, and preparedness to participate
in todays knowledge-based economy (p.266): such an array of learners development needs

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posits a considerable challenge for teachers (p.266). However, she points out skills that such
ESL/EFL learners need to develop in order to be successful that broadly match those suggested by
Prachanant (2012): critical thinking, content relevant literacy, oracy, and vocabulary, and while
promoting the integration of the four skills to facilitate learning (p.270), she encourages an
emphasis on fluency rather than accuracy as well as paying attention to the importance of
collaboration in adult ESL learning environments (p. 270 1). With this research from the field of
TBLT and ESP in the hospitality industry in mind, we developed the following methodology for
conducting our needs analysis.
Methodology
The following section presents the methodology for our current study. First, we provide a
description of the needs analysis procedures, along with information about our participants. We
then describe the types of data that were collected, and the methods used in collecting this data.
The subsequent sections describe the instruments that were used to collect the data, and provide
information on how the data were analyzed. This section concludes with a summary and
interpretation of our results.
Participants and Setting
The data for this study were collected from seven employees at Roux restaurant. Of the seven
employees, four were L1 English-speakers and three were L1 Spanish speakers. All employees
had some level of exposure to a second language, some of whom had gained high levels of
proficiency in their L2s. Of the four English-speakers, two worked in customer service, wait staff
positions, and two worked in the kitchen. All three Spanish-speaking participants worked in the
kitchen. All participants in the study were either given a pseudonym or referred to simply as

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employee. All information gathered was kept completely confidential. Any results will be
presented generally and will not be linked to specific individuals.
Procedures and Instruments
For this study, both verbal and numerical data were collected. The verbal data came from one
twenty-one minute unstructured interview with Chef X and seven open-ended short answer
surveys distributed to all employees in the restaurant. The unstructured interview with Chef X
was conducted in order to determine what tasks she felt the Spanish-speaking employees had the
most difficulty in completing. The unstructured interview also served to inform the development
of the open-ended surveys. The short answer surveys were developed to gain insight into how
communication breakdowns may arise between the largely Spanish-speaking kitchen staff and the
mainly English-speaking wait staff. The survey also asked employees to provide information
related to their beliefs and attitudes about language and language learning which we hoped would
provide us with some understanding of the affective factors that may be influencing
communication within the restaurant.
Also based on our original exploratory interview with Chef X, we developed Likert-style selfreport questionnaires which were distributed only to the Spanish-speaking employees in order to
determine their levels of language proficiency, which of the four traditional language skills they
found to be the most important, and the most difficult to manage while working in the restaurant.
Before administering the questionnaires to the participants, we piloted both the Spanish and
English questionnaires with a multilingual employee of Roux, who was not included in the data
set for the needs analysis. The Likert-style questionnaire was adapted from Spence, P., & Liu, G,
(2012). One of the needs analysts is also a Spanish instructor, so he completed the translations of
both the Likert-style questionnaire and the short answer survey which were administered to the

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Spanish-speaking participants. We consulted a certified Spanish translator and a domain-outsider
expert, an applied linguist who is proficient in English and Spanish, in order to provide feedback
on the accuracy of our translations, and the clarity of our questions. The short answer survey and
the Likert-style questionnaire can both be found in the Appendix. Through the methods listed
above, we hoped to triangulate not only our data collection, both verbal and numerical, but also
our sources by including participants who have different perspectives and who occupy different
positions within the restaurant.
Materials
An audio recording device was necessary in order to record and later transcribe the unstructured
interview that was conducted with Chef X.
Analysis
The unstructured interview with Chef X was audio recorded and transcribed. Once the
transcription was completed, the interview was analyzed to find tasks that the Spanish-speaking
employees had difficulty in completing. Once identified, the open-ended surveys were created,
distributed, and collected; the surveys were then analyzed to find emerging themes and patterns.
In order to analyze the numerical data from the Likert-style questionnaires, frequency counts were
performed. Based on those, pie charts and a column graph were designed to display the
quantitative data.

Findings

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Qualitative Data

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Interview with chef X.

An unstructured interview was conducted with the English-speaking head chef to determine
what tasks the Spanish-speaking employees found to be the most challenging. She said,
the biggest issues for me for the people that speak Spanish,um, is basically when I ask
them to do a recipe, certain recipe and they cant follow it cause they maybe cant
speak, I mean they cant read the English and so then I have to go back and forth and
constantly show them what I need.
She also pointed out that some of the employees may have difficulty with reading in English: A
lot of these guys cant read the tickets, and they kinda...figure it out by um, memorizing and then
uh, sometimes theres problems with the plating because they cant read the special instructions.
According to the chef, such communication breakdowns negatively affect profits: Yeah, so then
you gotta throw it away, start all over, so exactly, food costs and labor, I mean its time that
theyre having to take to do another one, you know that all comes into play.
Over the course of the interview, Chef X identified several tasks that were most affected by the
language levels of the Spanish-speaking participants. Labeling items in the prep kitchen was
particularly challenging to the participants, as she assumed that they simply memorized the words
to put on the labels. In addition, Chef X found implementing new menu items or specials to be a
challenge for the Spanish-speaking staff as well: Its very difficult, and most of the time I get a
lot of problems with it...Boudin (ground pork sausage with chicken liver), good example, it took
me probably a month and a half to get Jorge (pseudonym) to finally start doing it. When trying to

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change a recipe, Chef X also considered the language barrier to be a hindrance to task completion
in the restaurant kitchen:
...He (participant) knows how everything is supposed to be, if I tell him to add a little
more cream to the grits, he doesnt understand that, you know, so its, okay this is how
its going to be, but um the next day its not. So its something you have to really really
work with him about and uh, and Im not sure if he understands what Im trying to tell
him anyway you know.
Chef X also considered the language barrier to particularly affect the tasks required of the
Spanish-speaking kitchen staff who primarily washed dishes for the restaurant:
I need to communicate with him and its very very hard, and I have to seriously just look
at him and say, okay, one thing at a time, in order for us to get through this, and thats the
way I said it to him, and it like took me thirty minutes one day, just sitting there going
what? say that again, repeat that? over and over and over, and that was when I was new
here so, I really, I mean Im getting to where Im starting to pick up a little bit of words,
but um it really threw me, you know, I was like almost crying because I felt bad because I
couldnt understand what he was saying and then I felt bad because I was just in a
situation where I was just gonna throw my hands up and just walk away. I mean I
couldnt figure it out, it was horrible.
Based on the data from this interview we developed our two short-answer questionnaires and a
Likert-style questionnaire, in order to determine whether the self-reported data from the target
group and other members of the resource group would confirm the evidence from the initial
interview with Chef X.

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English-speaking participants.

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Research question one.

Our first question dealt with the relationship between language proficiency and successful
communication and task completion, and the answers from our participants suggest that the
relationship is significant. Three out of the four English-speaking participants reported that there
were issues with the mainly Spanish-speaking dishwasher. One participant responded that there
are times when communicating with our primarily Spanish-speaking dishwashers is difficult. In
particular when needing them to perform a specific task (underlining in the original). However,
one participant responded that he could not think of one time when communication breakdown
due to low proficiency did jeopardize the fulfillment of a task.
Research question two.
When asked which specific skill is the most important to successfully complete tasks in the
restaurant, all participants agreed on speaking being the most crucial. Only one emphasized the
importance of reading as well.
Research question three.
Our third question addressed the necessary level of proficiency to communicate efficiently:
three out of four participants agreed that basic knowledge of English is sufficient for
communication to be successful. However, ones position in that respect proved antithetical. The
participant quantified the necessary level of English mastery as being 80%.
Research question four.

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Participants were then asked how English classes could improve communication among staff
members: two out of four agreed that lessons would improve communication, making it better
and clearer, while one argued it would depend on the specific job of the potential language
learner. The fourth approached the issue from a cultural point of view, claiming that asking
employees to take English lessons would border on ethnocentrism, even offending and eventually
turning away potential employees. According to him, English lessons sound good [only] on
paper.
Affective questions.
We also chose to examine how the employees attitudes and beliefs towards language and
language learning related to their perception of language needs at the restaurant. When asked how
they feel about someone speaking a language other than theirs at Roux, the employees gave a
range of responses. One employee stated the he embrace[s] the opportunity to take in elements of
an unfamiliar language and culture. Two employees agreed that, although they do not oppose
Spanish being spoken in the restaurant, they do feel left out and that it can be a tad
intimidating when they are not able to understand the Spanish-speaking employees. Lastly, one
employee finds it frustrating because being their boss it is very hard to complete anything
without a Spanish/English [person] speaking for me.
For the second affective question, do you think learning a foreign language is hard? all
employees agreed that learning a foreign language can be difficult. One employee responded, I
think if you dont learn young, it is significantly harder as an adult. Your brain is almost set in its
ways. However, another employee argued that in a work environment, though, constant
immersion streamlines the process.

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Finally, expressing the opinion whether they think that their level of language proficiency may
affect the way people treat them, participants all agreed that it does. Two respondents felt that
having command of certain levels of English may indicate status. One employee added, my
grasp of English makes me sound snobbish and doesnt help with first impressions on a day to
day basis. Another employee maintained that having a developed s[e]nse of a language almost
defines a level of education. Typically, a more educated person will be treated better. Two
participants felt that a person's language level affects the way one is treated. One employee went
as far as saying thatwhen [Spanish-speaking staff members] realize I cant speak it, [they] start
communicating only through Spanish.
Spanish-speaking participants.
Research question one.
This question sought to determine how language proficiency related to successful
communication between staff in the restaurant. When we examined the results from the Spanishspeaking participants, we found that they do not see a relationship between their language
proficiency and successful communication. When asked, Can you describe a time when you
were not able to communicate in English with another employee and so could not complete your
task? the three participants answered No, No, I have never had that experience and Yes, I
can complete my tasks, but on occasions there are people who dont want to understand you.

Research question two.

Our second research question focused on determining which of the four language skills were
most important for successful task completion in a restaurant kitchen. Two of the participants

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responded that listening was the most important, while the third participant considered listening
as well as speaking to be the most important for task completion in the kitchen.
Research question three.
With our third research question, we attempted to determine what level of proficiency was
necessary for successful communication in the restaurant. Interestingly, each of the participants
had different answers for this question. Participant one stated Medium (intermediate) level of
proficiency was the minimum needed to successfully communicate in the kitchen. Participant two
stated that An advanced level of English is important because the majority of the customers
speak English, a basic level of Spanish is important also. The last participant responded that only
a basic level of English was needed to successfully communicate in the restaurant.
Research question four.
Our last research question sought to determine the willingness of the participants to participate
in English classes if they were offered to the restaurant employees. When they were asked How
would English classes help improve communication? they gave three different answers; one
participant thought that English classes would help improve communication. Another participant
stated, It wont change much because all the employees speak English as their first or second
language. The last participant thought that in this restaurant the majority (of employees) speak a
bit of Spanish so communication is not difficult.
Affective questions.
Similar to the English-speaking participants, the Spanish-speakers were also asked questions
related to attitudes and beliefs. In response to the question, How do you feel about someone
speaking a language other than your own at Roux? the first participant responded that he felt the

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same whether someone was speaking to him in English or Spanish. The second participant stated,
I feel really good because I like to help all the customers, in addition my Spanish is good. The
final participant responded that he felt good because [he] speak[s] two languages other than my
native language.
Regarding beliefs about language learning difficulty, the participants were asked, Do you
think learning a foreign language is hard? All three participants found language learning to be
relatively easy. The first participant responded that he did not find language learning to be
difficult. The second participant answered , no, for me its easy because I have a good memory
for remembering new words. The final participant also did not find language learning to be
difficult and responded that no, if you practice day to day with someone then language learning
is not hard.
The final question addressed attitudes towards linguistic discrimination. When asked, Do you
think that your level of English may or may not affect the way people treat you? participants one
and two both answered no, indicating that they did not feel that their level of English affects the
way they are treated by others. The final respondent, however, responded yes, indicating that he
considers his level of English to affect the way he is treated by others.

Quantitative Data
The Spanish-speaking participants were also given a quantitative questionnaire, which allowed
them to indicate which of the four skills they felt was the most difficult, and also how often they
use each of the four skills at work. The results of the quantitative surveys are displayed in the

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three figures below. Figure one displays the results to the question, How difficult do you find each
of the following in English? Using frequency counts to analyze the data, we found that the
Spanish-speaking participants considered writing to be the most difficult skill in English.
Figure 1.

Figure two represents the answers to the question, How often do you use the following
English skills at work? The participants responded that listening was the most used skill at work,
with speaking being the second most used, reading the next, and lastly writing was the least used
skill when working at the restaurant.

Figure 2.

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Figure three displays the results of several questions from the quantitative survey. The
questions were (1) how often do you communicate in English with other employees, (2) how
difficult is it for you to read modified tickets, (3) how do you feel about your level of English to
do your job, and (4) how difficult is communicating in English with other employees. For
question number one the participants were given three adverbs, never, sometimes, and always,
and they were given a numerical scale from 1 to 5, never being 1 and always being 5, in order to
show how often they communicate in English with other employees. Based on the questionnaire
results, the participants indicated that they always communicated in English with other
employees.
The second question was similar in that the participants were given two adjectives, easy and
difficult, with a scale of 1 to 5 which allowed them to indicate whether they are able to read
modified tickets with ease, or with much difficulty. Based on the results of the questionnaire, two
of the participants indicated that reading modified tickets is easy, while the last participant
considers reading modified tickets to be very difficult. Question number three asked if the
participants felt that they had an adequate level of English to complete their jobs at the restaurant

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and then gave the option of sufficient or insufficient, based on a scale of 1 to 5. Each participant
indicated that they feel differently about their level of English: the results were sufficient, nearly
sufficient, and not very sufficient for participants two, three, and one, respectively. The last
question asked the participants how difficult it is to communicate in English with other
employees. Given two adjectives, easy and difficult, with a scale of 1 to 5 the participants
indicated that they feel relative ease when communicating in English with other employees.
Figure 3.

.
Discussion and Conclusion
Based on the results from the quantitative and qualitative analyses of our participant data, we
found several discrepancies between the qualitative and the quantitative data. In addition, we
found a similar type of disparity between the data from the English-speaking participants and the
Spanish-speaking ones. After discussing the results, we conclude this needs analysis with a
recommendation for a potential task-based curriculum and several implications for future research
into ESP in the hospitality context.

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Based on our analysis of the open-ended surveys administered to the Spanish-speaking
participants, we found that they generally considered their level of English to be sufficient for
working in the restaurant, and also they felt that English lessons would be unnecessary. In
contrast, with the exception of one, the English-speaking participants felt that English lessons
would improve communication between the employees at Roux, and that the level of English
spoken by the Spanish-L1 employees often caused problems or delays in task completion. It is
interesting to note that in the quantitative analysis the Spanish-speaking participants did indicate
that they face difficulty in some aspects of the four skills, with writing being the most difficult in
general and reading modified tickets being particularly difficult for one participant - but they
seemed to respond antithetically on the open-ended surveys.
Our initial interview with Chef X led us to believe that there were several tasks that were
particularly challenging for the Spanish-speaking employees at Roux, and our analysis of the
English-L1 participants data also confirmed this. However, when we analyzed the answers from
the Spanish-speaking participants, we found that they do not feel that they are inadequately
performing any required tasks. This leads us to the following conclusion: the Spanish-speaking
employees do not seem to be aware that they are not completing their jobs in a timely, or
adequate, manner. This points to an issue in communication between staff, and possibly to a
management issue which is beyond the scope of our needs analysis. However, based on the data
from the initial interview with Chef X correlated with the data from the English-speaking
participants, we can safely assert that the discrepancy in the results seems to stem from a lack of
communication between the Spanish-L1 employees and the English-L1 ones. This sort of
communication issue may be the result of a language barrier as well as being indicative of a
general lack of communication in this particular context.

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Despite the fact that the Spanish-speaking participants do not see the need for English lessons
at Roux, we offer several recommendations for a potential curriculum for English classes, which
would be focused on two concepts: task-based instruction and current research on ESP in
hospitality settings. In order for a curriculum to target the specific needs of employees in a
restaurant, it should be arranged around pedagogic tasks which mimic the actual ones that
employees are required to complete on a day-to-day basis. These tasks would include reading
tickets, modified or otherwise, being able to accurately follow a recipe, and correctly label items.
Potential curricula to serve the specific needs of restaurant employees should also use authentic
materials in order to scaffold such tasks, such as menus from restaurants, recipes from cookbooks,
and modified tickets that kitchen staff are required to read. Also, vocabulary specific to working
in a kitchen should be taught as language used to complete the tasks required to perform the
duties in a restaurant kitchen.
Based on our findings from the current needs analysis, we propose several suggestions for
future research in the hospitality context. First, we are not aware of any such needs analysis that
specifically focuses on the restaurant industry, and as such there is a gap in the literature
concerning the ESP needs for employees who work in commercial kitchens, a gap that researchers
should start to address. We also suggest that future researchers should consider the perception of
affective factors that influence communication breakdown in the business. Though the current
needs analysis was focused on a task-based approach in order to determine which tasks were the
most difficult due to insufficient language proficiency, the results of our study show that affective
factors may play a larger role in task-completion for non-English speaking employees in a
restaurant than do their various proficiency levels.

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Analysts Contributions

Antonella
Since April was the liaison with the restaurant employees and did all the leg work in that
respect, and since Taylor took charge of the whole Spanish-translation aspect of the research, I
focused on article research and on literature review. I contributed to the analysis and
interpretations of findings as well as to the writing of the corresponding sections, which were
done collaboratively, as the identification of our research questions, the design of the study, and
that of the instruments used were. I took care of other smaller sections of the paper and
contributed the editing of the document.
Taylor
We all contributed equally to deciding on the focus and design of our needs analysis. We also
all collaborated on creating the instruments for our questionnaire and survey. I was individually
responsible for translating both the questionnaire and survey from English into Spanish. I also had
both the survey and questionnaire edited by a certified translator that also teaches at USF. Once
our participants returned our short answer survey I was responsible for translating the responses
from Spanish back to English. When writing the paper we all contributed equally to the findings
section as well as the discussion and conclusion section. I individually was responsible for writing
the methodology section.
April
As a member of this project, as well as an employee of the restaurant where we conducted the
needs assessment, my role in this project was largely concerned with data collection. After we
obtained permission to use the restaurant as the context for our curriculum project. I interviewed

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the Chef, piloted the surveys, and then administered the surveys to the participants and later
collected the completed surveys. We collectively formed our research questions, and developed
the surveys. Due to my intimate knowledge of the context, I was responsible for the introduction
of the paper. Antonella was largely responsible for the literature review portion of this paper, and
consequently, completed the bulk of the research for this project. Taylor, being a Spanish
instructor, translated the initial questionnaires into Spanish, and then translated the completed
answers into English. Taylor was also responsible for writing the methodology section of the
paper. We collectively analyzed the qualitative data and wrote the data analysis portion and the
conclusion/discussion as a group.

References

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29
Afzali, K. & Razapoorian, D. (2014). Pragmatic aspects of English for tourism course books and
ESL learners pragmatic needs: a speech act theory perspective. Procedia- Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 98, 52-9.
Campbell, C., MacPherson, S., & Sawkins, T. (2015). Preparing students for education, work,
and community: activity theory in task-based curriculum design. TESL Canada Journal, 31,
68.
Ewert, D.E., (2013). Content-learning tasks for adult ESL learners: Promoting literacy for work or
school. TESOL Journal, 5(2), 265-287.
Huh, S. (2006). A task-based needs analysis for a business English course. Second Language
Studies, 24(2), 1-64.
Jeou-Shian, H., & Li, H.Y., (2008). Needs assessments of professional competences of F&B
hospitality and management students at college and university level. Journal of Teaching and
Travel in Tourism, 6(3), 1-26.
Petrovska, I. (2012). Hot from the press: CCID-UKLO linkage. ESL tourism hospitality program.
Proceedings of the 2012 Tourism & Hospitality Management Conference, 370-373.
Prachanant, N. (2012). Needs analysis on English language use in tourism industry. ProcediaSocial and Behavioral Sciences 66, 117-125.

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Serafini. L.G., Lake, J.B., & Long, M.H. (2015). Needs analysis for specialized learners
populations: Essential methodological improvements. English for Specific Purposes, 40, 1126.
Spence, P., & Liu, G, (2012). Engineering English and the high tech industry: A case study of an
English needs analysis if process integration engineers at a semiconductor manufacturing
company in Taiwan. English for Specific Purposes, 32, 97-109.
Wozniak, S. (2010). Language needs analysis from a perspective of international professional
mobility. English for Specific Purposes, 29, 243-252.

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Appendix
English Short-Answer Questionnaire
Communication questions:

1.Can you describe a time when you were not able to communicate in English with another
employee, and so could not complete your task?

2. Choosing between reading, writing, speaking, and listening, which skill do you think is the
most important for working in this restaurant? Please explain why?

3. How would you describe the minimum level of language ability that is necessary to
successfully complete tasks in the restaurant?

4. What is the basic amount of English needed to work in this restaurant?

5. How could English lessons at Roux improve communication between the front of the house
and back of the house at Roux?

Attitude questions:
1. How do you feel about someone speaking a language other than your own at Roux?

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2. Do you think learning a foreign language is hard?

3. Do you think that your level of English may or may not affect the way people treat you?

Spanish Short-Answer Questionnaire

1. Puedes hablar de una vez cuando no pudiste comunicarte en ingls/espaol con un empleado y
por eso no pudiste completar su tarea?

2. Entre leer, escribir, hablar y escuchar, cul habilidad es la ms importante para trabajar en un
restaurante? Por favor entre en detalle.

3. Puedes describir qu es el nivel bsico de ingls/espaol necesario para trabajar en este

restaurant?

4. Puedes describir cmo enseanza de ingls/espaol en Roux puede mejorar la comunicacin

entre los empleados del comedor y los empleados de la cocina?

1. Cmo te sientes cuando alguien habla un idioma diferente de tu lengua materna cuando ests
en Roux?

2. Piensas que es difcil aprender un idioma nuevo? Por favor, explica.

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3. Piensas que el nivel de ingls/espaol que t hablas te puede afectar la manera de que otras
personas te tratan?

English adapted Likert-style Questionnaire

1. How often do you use the following English skills at work?

Speaking

Never
1

Listening

Reading

Writing

Sometimes
3

Always
5

2. How difficult do you find each of the following in English?

Speaking

Easy
1

Difficult
5

Listening

Reading

Writing

3. How often do you communicate in English with other employees?

Never
1

Sometimes
3

Always
5

4. How difficult is communicating in English with other employees?

Easy
1

Very Difficult
5

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5. How do you feel about your level of English to do your job?

Sufficient
1

Insufficient
5

Difficult
5

6. How difficult is it for you to read modified tickets?

Easy
1

Adapted from Spence, P., & Liu, G, (2012)

Spanish adapted-Likert style Questionnaire
1. Con qu frecuencia usas las siguientes habilidades en ingls mientras ests en Roux?
Nunca
A veces
Siempre
Hablar
1
2
3
4
5
Escuchar

Leer

Escribir

2. Por favor, califica la dificultad de cada habilidad en ingls?

Hablar

Fcil
1

Difcil
5

Escuchar

Leer

Escribir

3. Con qu frecuencia te comunicas en ingls con los otros empleados?

Nunca
1

A veces
3

Siempre
5

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4. Qu difcil es comunicarte con otros empleados en ingls?
Fcil
1

Muy difcil
5

5. Qu opinas del nivel de tu ingls para realizar tu trabajo?

Suficiente
1

6. Qu difcil es leer los pedidos (tickets) modificados?

Fcil
1
2
3
4

No es suficiente
5

Muy difcil
5

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