Role of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry: perceptions of hospitality students of a selected technical university

Abstract The role of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry was explored in this study. Specifically, the research question addressed is: what is the role of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry? Using the quantitative descriptive survey research design, a que...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ramos Asafo-Adjei, Frances Betty Fraikue, Elvis ResCue
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2025-06-01
Series:Discover Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-025-00627-y
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849433124117676032
author Ramos Asafo-Adjei
Frances Betty Fraikue
Elvis ResCue
author_facet Ramos Asafo-Adjei
Frances Betty Fraikue
Elvis ResCue
author_sort Ramos Asafo-Adjei
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The role of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry was explored in this study. Specifically, the research question addressed is: what is the role of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry? Using the quantitative descriptive survey research design, a questionnaire survey was carried out among all first year Hospitality Management Bachelor of Technology students (n = 125) of the Takoradi Technical University. The data was analysed using expressive statistics (frequencies and percentages) and Pearson’s correlation. The Service Quality Gap Model (Zeithaml and Bitner in Service marketing: integrating customer focus across the firm, 2nd edn, Irwin McGraw-Hill, New York, 2003) was adapted for this study. Results revealed that the English language is crucial to the Ghanaian hospitality industry and that the basic English language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) were central to hospitality operations in Ghana. Lecturers, curriculum developers and key players in the hospitality industry should team up to identify specific language weaknesses which students exhibit in order to address them through properly planned curriculum and andragogical practices.
format Article
id doaj-art-e3373b97529043cca0fa003d8857cf89
institution Kabale University
issn 2731-5525
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Springer
record_format Article
series Discover Education
spelling doaj-art-e3373b97529043cca0fa003d8857cf892025-08-20T03:27:10ZengSpringerDiscover Education2731-55252025-06-014111610.1007/s44217-025-00627-yRole of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry: perceptions of hospitality students of a selected technical universityRamos Asafo-Adjei0Frances Betty Fraikue1Elvis ResCue2Communication Technology Department, Faculty of Media Technology and Liberal Studies, Takoradi Technical UniversityDepartment of Hospitality Management, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Takoradi Technical UniversityDepartment of Language and Linguistics, University of EssexAbstract The role of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry was explored in this study. Specifically, the research question addressed is: what is the role of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry? Using the quantitative descriptive survey research design, a questionnaire survey was carried out among all first year Hospitality Management Bachelor of Technology students (n = 125) of the Takoradi Technical University. The data was analysed using expressive statistics (frequencies and percentages) and Pearson’s correlation. The Service Quality Gap Model (Zeithaml and Bitner in Service marketing: integrating customer focus across the firm, 2nd edn, Irwin McGraw-Hill, New York, 2003) was adapted for this study. Results revealed that the English language is crucial to the Ghanaian hospitality industry and that the basic English language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) were central to hospitality operations in Ghana. Lecturers, curriculum developers and key players in the hospitality industry should team up to identify specific language weaknesses which students exhibit in order to address them through properly planned curriculum and andragogical practices.https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-025-00627-yEnglish languageGhanaHospitalityStudents’ perceptionsTechnical university
spellingShingle Ramos Asafo-Adjei
Frances Betty Fraikue
Elvis ResCue
Role of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry: perceptions of hospitality students of a selected technical university
Discover Education
English language
Ghana
Hospitality
Students’ perceptions
Technical university
title Role of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry: perceptions of hospitality students of a selected technical university
title_full Role of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry: perceptions of hospitality students of a selected technical university
title_fullStr Role of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry: perceptions of hospitality students of a selected technical university
title_full_unstemmed Role of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry: perceptions of hospitality students of a selected technical university
title_short Role of the English language in the Ghanaian hospitality industry: perceptions of hospitality students of a selected technical university
title_sort role of the english language in the ghanaian hospitality industry perceptions of hospitality students of a selected technical university
topic English language
Ghana
Hospitality
Students’ perceptions
Technical university
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-025-00627-y
work_keys_str_mv AT ramosasafoadjei roleoftheenglishlanguageintheghanaianhospitalityindustryperceptionsofhospitalitystudentsofaselectedtechnicaluniversity
AT francesbettyfraikue roleoftheenglishlanguageintheghanaianhospitalityindustryperceptionsofhospitalitystudentsofaselectedtechnicaluniversity
AT elvisrescue roleoftheenglishlanguageintheghanaianhospitalityindustryperceptionsofhospitalitystudentsofaselectedtechnicaluniversity