Integrating Supranational and National Frameworks into Local Tourism-Related English Courses

Abstract

This article is aimed at identifying ways in which Learning Freedom bridges the gap between student’s English skills and the English competencies expected in supra-national documents such as Common European Frame of Reference, Common ASEAN Tourism Curriculum, and Indonesian Qualification Framework (IQF). Using tourism core competencies (Semrad, et al, 2012; Zehrer & Mössenlechner, 2009) and competency-based learning theories (Cañado, 2012; Dooly, 2013), the study extracts competencies in the documents and, using syllabus development theories (Alsubaie, 2016), it integrates them into English for Tourism and Hospitality syllabus. Using student active learning paradigms (Seigel & Rockwood, 1993), it also teases out how Learning Freedom as an education policy offers opportunities to educational trainings. Data were collected through note-taking of key ideas in the policy documents and through interviews of tourism stakeholders, experts, and practitioners. The information was identified and classified based on content. The study explicated 47 key ideas, half of which are integrated into an English-for-Tourism-and-Hospitality syllabus and another half was implemented through 2-day industrial visit practicum and 8-day on-the-job internship programs implemented within Learning Freedom paradigms. The study shows effective use of the materials in increasing English competencies but the increase is below the target and more training is recommended.