9
ESP: TEACHERS AND STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS
ON TEACHING TO TOUR GUIDES
INGLÉS PARA FINES ESPECÍFICOS: PERCEPCIONES
DE DOCENTES Y ESTUDIANTES ACERCA DE LA
ENSEÑANZA A GUÍAS DE TURISMO
Recibido: 23/03/2024 - Aceptado: 13/01/2026
José Miguel Obando Arroyo
Docente de la Universidad Técnica del Norte
Ibarra - Ecuador
Magíster en Linguistica Aplicada a la Enseñanza Bilingue Español - Inglés
Ponticia Universidad Católica del Ecuador
jmobando@utn.edu.ec
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8338-1237
Tuli Aracelly García Arciniegas
Personal académico de la Universidad Técnica del Norte
Ibarra - Ecuador
Magíster en Ecoturismo en Áreas Protegidas
Universidad Técnica del Norte Ecuador
tgarcia@itsi.edu.ec.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5421-888X
10
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
Amilcar Casaluzan Huanga
Docente de la Unidad Educativa Humberto Valenzuela
Tulcán - Ecuador
Licenciado en Ciencias de la Educación
Universidad de Cuenca
tentampu@hotmail.com
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2786-6108
Como citar este artículo:
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos:
percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la enseñanza a guías de turismo.
Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
11
ESP: Teachers and Students Perceptions on
Teaching to Tour Guides
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
Abstract
is qualitative study focused on identifying the perceptions of teachers and learners about
implementation of an English for Specic Purposes course for tour guides in terms of necessities,
lacks, wants, learning needs and language skills development. e study was conducted between
October 2023 and February 2024 in La Esperanza de Ibarra, Ecuador. e participants were a
group of four pre – service teachers and a group eight local tour guides. For data collection, there
were held three focus group sessions with teachers and learners. e information was recorded,
transcribed and translated into English for its posterior analysis using the Needs Analysis frame
proposed by Hutchinson and Waters. e tool used to analyze data was the free version of the
program QDA miner lite. Data revealed that, as for the necessities, ESP implementation must
strongly be connected to learners’ occupational needs. Lacks analysis indicated that before the
implementation, none of the learners had achieved the minimum level of skills mastery required
by Ministry of Tourism in Ecuador for tour guides. Regarding wants, informants suggested the
inclusion of eld trips as part of the course. Due principally to schedule overlaps and the limited
number of classrooms available, the shift from classroom-based lessons to blended teaching modality
was also suggested. As far as the learners´ language skills development, teachers informed that
after the implementation, learners demonstrated improvements in oral production, specially. It was
concluded that ESP can be benecial for tour guides if their necessities, lacks, wants and needs are
met through informed content selection, context teaching and adequate teaching modality.
Keywords: English for Specic Purposes, English for Tourism, tour guides, Needs Analysis
Resumen
Este estudio de corte cualitativo estuvo enfocado en identicar las percepciones de profesores y
estudiantes en torno a la implementación de un curso de Inglés para nes Especícos para guías
de turismo en términos de necesidades, carencias, deseos, necesidades de aprendizaje, así como el
desarrollo de destrezas del idioma. El estudio se realizó entre los meses de octubre 2023 y febrero
2024 en la parroquia rural La Esperanza de Ibarra, Ecuador. Los participantes fueron un grupo
de cuatro profesores y ocho guías de turismo comunitario. La recolección de datos se llevo a cabo
mediante la técnica de grupos focales. Se llevaron a cabo tres sesiones con profesores y estudiantes
grabadas, transcritas para luego traducirlas al idioma Inglés para su posterior análisis. La herramienta
utilizada par el análisis de datos fue la versión libre del programa QDA Miner Lite. Para el efecto,
se utilizó el modelo de Análisis de Necesidades propuesto por Hutchinson y Waters. En cuanto a
las necesidades, la información reveló que los contenidos de capacitaciones de Inglés para Fines
Especícos debe estar relacionada con las necesidades ocupacionales de los estudiantes. El análisis
de carencias evidenció que ninguno de los participantes cumplía con los estándares requeridos
por el Ministerio de Turismo de Ecuador. En cuanto a los deseos, las percepciones apuntaron a la
inclusión de salidas de campo que potencialicen el aprendizaje del idioma en situaciones y contextos
laborales reales. Debido a cruces de horario, no previstos, los informantes sugirieron el cambio de
modalidad de enseñanza de presencial a combinado. En cuanto al desarrollo de destrezas, los docentes
informaron que hubo mejoras en la expresión oral de sus alumnos en términos de producción oral.
Se concluyó que la implementación de Inglés para nes Especícos puede ser beneciosa para este
12
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
grupo de guías de turismo si sus necesidades, carencias y deseos se satisfacen mediante una criteriosa
selección de contenidos, enseñanza contextual y una adecuada modalidad de enseñanza.
Palabras clave: Inglés para nes Especícos; Inglés para nes turísticos; guías de turismo; Análisis
de necesidades
13
ESP: Teachers and Students Perceptions on
Teaching to Tour Guides
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
Introduction
La Esperanza, a small rural parish situated to the south of Ibarra has been a tourist destination for
national and foreign visitors interested in mountain climbing, landscape photography, handmade
embroidery and leather crafts. Data published by the municipality gives La Esperanza a population
of 8.988 for the year 2020 and it states that the parish will reach a population of 9.886 by the end
of 2025 (GAD Ibarra, 2020). Since the seventies La Esperanza had been a popular destination for
foreign travelers from the United States and Europe. In 2018, a couple of years before the pandemic,
the ow of tourists to the town decreased due to the low public and private investment in favor of
potentializing the natural attractions of this rural parish. However, the post pandemic brought its
inhabitants new tourism – related opportunities due principally to the new tendency of Ecuadorian
citizens living in urban areas of big cities to travel to the countryside in search of open areas.
In this context, locals, interested in starting tourism related activities looked for assistance
in governmental institutions and public higher education institutions. In response to the request,
in 2021, as part of the agreement: Fortalecimiento del Turismo Rural de la Parroquia La Esperanza
(Strengthening of the Tourism in La Esperanza), Gobierno Provincial de Imbabura (2024)
(Provincial Government of Imbabura) implemented the project “Local Guides Certication”. On
the other hand, as part of the requirements in Ecuador to obtain the license issued by the Ministry of
Tourism (2024), tour guides are required to demonstrate a level of English Skills competency at B1
in concordance with the Common European Framework. Considering this factor, General English
was one of the subjects of the curricular grid to be implemented for the tour guides participating
in the above cited project. e rst group of trainees, who took part in this project, graduated in
2023. However, information collected by the researcher evidenced that none of the graduates held
a B1 certication in English or any another foreign language.
On the other hand, as part of the permanent outreach process Universidad Técnica del
Norte is part and in response to the request made by the local authorities of the parish La Esperanza,
a group of eight Senior English majors were assigned to implement a 60-hour English for Specic
Purposes (ESP) course for a group of twenty-six tour guides of La Esperanza. e group of attendees
were divided into three groups of eight, fteen and three students respectively. e division was
made considering the availability of time of the participants and two student – teachers were
assigned to work in each class. e intention of the course was to help tour guides develop basic
communicative skills in English for Tourism that allow them better to perform in their occupation
when the use of a foreign language is needed. e course was implemented between October 17,
2023 and February 17, 2024.
English for Specic Purposes
Languages for Specic Purposes are not new in language teaching and learning. With the emergence
of English as a global language, the rise of English of Specic Purposes ESP became a need. As for
how to dene it, there have been several attempts. Hutchinson & Waters state that ESP is an
approach to language learning which is based on the learners’ needs (Hutchinson y Waters, 1993).
In the same vein, Richards denes English for Specic Purposes (ESP) as the role of English in a
language course of program of instruction in which the content and aims of the course are xed
by the specic needs of a particular group of learners (Richards y Smith, 2010). Agustina (2022)
states ESP is teaching conducted to equip learners with a certain English prociency level for a
situation where the language is going to be used, termed target needs. As for the term “specic”
14
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
in ESP, Ommia y Nowar (2022), on their part, state that means “the exact objective” for learning
English language. Learners study the English that is related to their eld of work. is way they can
immediately utilize what they have learned in the ESP classrooms at work. It can be said then that
ESP courses focuses on learners needs for communication in occupational environments.
Many subdivisions of ESP have come up like English for business (EBP) English for Medical
Purposes (EMP) and others. In this coming of new divisions, Tourism has not been the exception,
Cravotta stated that English for English for Tourism and Hospitality (ETP) is used for international
tourism and service industry which is considered under the eld study of English for Specic
Purposes and its practical applications need to be understood (Cravotta, 1990).
Altogether with dening ESP and its various subdivisions, it has been necessary to outline a
curriculum and a methodological line to may orient teachers in their practice. It is clear that coming
to dene what is to be taught in ESP and how is to be done requires from experts considering
learners specic needs, though (Tonic´, 2010). It becomes crucial then conducting a needs analysis
that informs curriculum developers and teachers what the actual needs of the target learners are.
Needs Analysis
If ESP attempts to help learners meet their needs, then the rst step to take when designing a
training program or a course is to identify what communicational needs are essential for tour guides.
en, as mentioned above, conducting a needs analysis (NA) becomes indispensable (Namptapi,
2022). e term has had dierent interpretations. Hutchinson and Waters, however, state that NA
“should provide the learner with the capacity to handle communication in the target situation”
(Hutchinson y Waters, 1984). is denition has been considered by some researchers, as in this
study, as the one that best approaches in ESP contexts. e posterior explanation included below, of
what NA should involve given by Hutchinson and Waters are the basis for the analysis of teachers
and students perceptions in this study (Hutchinson y Waters, 1987).
1. Target needs, which is an umbrella term comprising:
• Necessities; the destination, or what the learner needs to know function properly
in the target situation.
• Lacks; represents the starting point, or what the learner already knows,
• Wants, deals with the learners’ view as to what their needs are.
2. Learning needs, involves what learners need to do in order to learn.
A Curriculum for ESP in Tourism
Some studies have been conducted to determine the curriculum model that better matches ESP
contexts. In this vein, in the study Approaches and Steps in ESP Design, Muthmainnah, Like and
Nenny state that it is important to recognize that the ESP learning situation and the target situation
will both inuence the nature of the syllabus, materials, methodology and evaluation procedures.
Similarly, each of these components will inuence and be inuenced by the others (Muthmainnah
et al., 2021). is necessarily implies that curriculum design in ESP contexts demands not only a
deep understanding of curricular theories but also a clear vision of the context in which learners are
to use the language they learn in the classroom.
In the search of a curricular model that ts ESP contexts accordingly, it has been considered
the work done by Professor Huang. In his study English Curriculum Planning for Hospitality, he
15
ESP: Teachers and Students Perceptions on
Teaching to Tour Guides
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
develops a complete and comprehensive model for the English for Specic Purposes curriculum
which is applicable for hospitality and tourism English (2008) .
Table 1
Model for tourism and hospitality English curriculum
Dimension of the tourism and hospitality curriculum
English for Food and Beverage Services
English for Air Flight Services
English for Hotel Services
English for Tour Managers and Guide
Note. English curriculum design for hospitality by Huang Chao-shain (2008).
e ESP course subject of this study attempted to develop tour guides English basic skills
to conduct their tasks and communicate with their guests in the eld. at is to say that it focused
on the fourth dimension included in the model proposed by Professor Huang.
It is also important to have a clear understanding of the role of tour guide in tourism.
ese professionals are seen as the most important components in companies and by tourists as
the representatives of a country (Martin et al., 2018). When trying to identify the usual tasks tour
guides perform at work it arises the fact that at work, tour guides act as intermediaries between
visitors and the social environment by doing tasks like arranging transportation, interpreting,
handling problems, insulating travelers from diculties, and making the environment safe for
tourists (Pearce, 1982). erefore, and in correspondence to these tasks, an ESP course for this
target group of learners should be designed in a way that provide opportunities for students to learn
and practice English to deal with such tasks in real life situations.
Methodological Approaches
Tour guides become active communicators and spoken language users as most of the work they do
involves continuous interchanges of information with tourists in the eld rather than work done
in closed oces like form lling. erefore, it may be assumed that communicative approaches
to language teaching should guide the methodological approach if teaching to tour guides is the
objective. At this point, context teaching becomes meaningful as it is able of improving learners
understanding concepts as they use language to talk to another person (Ratminingsih et al., 2018).
In addition, it is clear that content becomes meaningful when is associated to real life situations
(Sari, 2016).
Communication and context teaching then seem to be the key at the moment of deciding
the methods teachers are to use in ESP courses. It is clear also that tour guides are very active
language users especially in the eld, where they have to be encore to encore with visitors. ese
interchanges not only demand from guides to describe places routinely but solve situations that
may arise during their guidance like the ones presented by Pearce and above cited.
16
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
On the side of teachers, before implementing lessons, there are minimum aspects that need
to be considered by teachers like learners’ styles, preferences, individual objectives (Kurzweil et
al., 2007). erefore, the criteria to select methods should respond to the concepts of exibility
and adaptability that make of teaching an eective process. In that search, it can be inferred that
teachers can use the communicative approach and the methods for which it is an umbrella like task
based, collaborative learning and project-based learning.
Perception
As written previously, curriculum developers and teachers should keep in mind some basic
considerations in their practice like students learning styles, objectives and learning preferences.
For this to occur, it is necessary to get to know what students and teachers believe, as well as what
their perceptions are towards their learning and teaching experience (Richards y Lockhart, 2007).
Oxford dictionary (2024) denes perception as an idea, a belief or an image you have as a result of
how you see or understand something. Additionally, Nanay states that perception must not be apart
from action as the former one is ltered by the other (Nanay, 2023). In Education and as part of the
teaching process, getting to know learners’ perceptions informs curriculum developers and teachers
to take better decisions in their area of inuence. ESP is not the exception to this rule as getting to
know what teachers and students know denitely benets the whole educative process.
A Brief Literature Support in Favor of Conducting Language Analysis
In Tourism contexts and being considered one of the most spoken languages in international
communication, English becomes an essential tool for the professionals in the eld. is has
promoted that many experts in the eld of teaching English focus their attention to conduct
researches in the area of English for Tourism purposes. In the following lines, it is included a brief
literature review on the eld of study. e revision includes some accounts on the methodology to
be used in ESP contexts in the area of Tourism and the importance of conducting needs analysis
before designing and implementing ESP courses.
Regarding the importance of conducting needs analysis before the design and implementation
phase of ESP courses in English for Tourism, Boran mentions that although speaking and listening
were to be the most important skills for professionals in the area, the ndings suggested that there
was no enough time devote do practice these skills during the lessons. He concluded that a situation
needs analysis is necessary before implanting any ESP course (Boran, 1994). Mohammed, in his
part, concluded that to make a shift from inexible and rigid curriculum to a leaner centered
approach which takes into account the needs and expectations of all the parties involved in the
process when designing courses needs analysis is necessary (Mohammed y Adarob, 2015) In the
same way, Wahyuni states that a syllabus design should be based on analysis of learners’ needs
resultant a needs analysis study (Wahyuni y Endang, 2022).
As for the methodological discussion to be used in the ESP classroom in Tourism contexts as
well as for the materials to be used, in his experimental study on the eciency of the implementation
of ESP course in Tourism and Hotel Management Acar proposes techniques and practices to
teach technical vocabulary to improve students’ communicative skills in their work eld (Acar,
2000). e author also suggests that vocabulary input must be done using appropriate teaching
methodology rather than simply giving students extensive lists of technical words to be learnt by
heart. Abdulrhman, in turn, conducted a study to determine the eciency of using the Dictogloss
technique to develop students listening skills. He concluded that the use of the technique was
17
ESP: Teachers and Students Perceptions on
Teaching to Tour Guides
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
eective as the subjects of experiment group obtained better results than the subjects who were part
of the control group (Abdulrhman, 2021). In relation to the materials that should be used to teach
ESP courses in the eld of Tourism, it is recommended that the materials given to the students
should match the needs of the students. From this short revision, it can be inferred that all the
authors coincide in that the methods and the materials should match the real needs of the students
rather than implementing ESP standard courses that not necessarily match the real objective of the
courses.
As could be clearly noticed, all the authors mentioned in this brief revision agree on the idea
that before implementing an ESP course it is recommendable to conduct a needs analysis thus to
design, choose the methodology and materials to be used as it is being implemented.
is study had as objective investigating the perceptions of teachers and learners towards
implementations an ESP course for a group of local tour guides considering the needs analysis
frame proposed by Hutchinson and Waters including the components: necessities, lacks, wants
and learners needs (Hutchinson y Waters, 1993) well as the incidences in terms of language skills
development.
Methods
is qualitative study was conducted in the parish La Esperanza de Ibarra with the participation of
a group of senior English majors of Universidad Técnica del Norte working as pre-service teachers
and a group of community tour guides of the above-mentioned parish. e ESP course subject
of study of this research was delivered from October 2023 to February 2024 and was part of the
outreach project of Pedagogía de los Idiomas Nacionales y Extranjeros.
Participants
Due to the small number of participants a census sample was used in this study. e group of pre
– service teachers was formed by four English major students doing their outreach. e second
was formed by eight tour guides who started, regularly attended and culminated the ESP course in
English for Tourism.
e group of teachers was selected from a group of thirty-ve students using the following
criteria: language prociency and teaching performance during the planning workshops held before
the outreach project was implemented. e workshops included team building activities for pre –
service teachers to consolidate the group, ECRIF and PDP frames to teach productive skills and
receptive rehearsal, syllabus design, lesson planning and the design of a didactic guide.
As for the group of tour guides participants in this study, twenty-six tour registered for
the course initially. Eventually, due principally to unforeseen overlaps, eleven dropped out and
fteen tour guides ended the course. All of them voluntarily accepted to take part in a focus group.
However, only eight of them attended and participated in the focus group.
Data Collection
ree focus group sessions, with two guides one for the group of pre – service teachers and one for
the group of tour guides, were held between December 2023 and February 2024. e guide focused
on Needs Analysis description explained by Hutchinson and waters and included areas related to
learners’ necessities, lacks and wants (Hutchinson y Waters,1987). e questions for the pre – service
teachers was focused on obtaining their perceptions towards topics like how helpful they considered
18
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
was to be for their students to take the English for Tourism course, the contents that might be
included, the skills that would need to be emphasized, and the subskills and competences students
would need to develop during the course. As for the guide for the students, the topics revolved
around previous English learning experiences, personal goals for the course, personal insights about
their real English skills development, the content they considered necessary to be included in the
syllabus of the course, the modality of the course and their personal expectations for the course.
e sessions were recorded, transcribed and translate into English. ere were used
pseudonyms and aleatory common names in Ecuador for all the participants to keep the
condentiality of the informants. Tables two and three show the pseudonyms given for teachers
and learners.
Table 2
Pseudonyms given to teachers
Pre – service eachers Pseudonyms
1 Rubí
2 Josué
3 Tamia
4 Jaime
Table 3
Pseudonyms given to learners
Tour Guides Pseudonyms
1 Cármen
2 María
3 Marco
4 Alicia
5 Milton
6 Luis
7 Andrés
8 Sofía
Research Question
What perceptions do teachers and students have about the implementation of an ESP course for
local tour guides in terms necessities, lacks, wants and learners needs as well as the incidences in
language skills development?
19
ESP: Teachers and Students Perceptions on
Teaching to Tour Guides
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
Findings
Teachers Perceptions
Initially, from the conversations among the teachers, it was known that Tamia and Jaime were in
charge of the biggest group of tour guides. ey started the course with fteen participants but
only half of them nished the course. Josué started the course with eight guides but only ve ended
whereas, Rubí started the course with three participants from whom only two ended.
As for the learners’ prole, the ve students Josué worked with were operative tour guides
and were also taking part in a training program to become mountain guides. e group in charge
of Tamia and Jaime was formed by three operative guides who also do mountain guiding, the rest
are taking part in trainings courses to obtain their certication. Two of the students Rubí worked
with are operative tour guides, one studied tourism but currently is not working in tourism–related
activities.
e focus group sessions with teachers were concerned about nding out their perceptions
on students lacks, learning needs and the incidences that the implementation of a second ESP
course for local tour guides may have in the community.
Lacks
In the Needs Analysis model presented by Hutchinson and Waters Lacks represent the starting
point, or what the learner already knows. is group of informants mentioned that in general the
three groups of learners did not have a good command of language skills. Josué mentioned that at the
beginning, in his group, some students better performed than others in certain tasks. However, All
the group of students knew certain expressions in English. Listening was the most dicult skill for
them followed by speaking, they mostly translated ideas into English. Tamia and Jaime mentioned
that most learners in their group were able of demonstrating understanding basic questions when
spoken slowly, but speaking was the most dicult skills for them, followed by writing and listening.
Reading was the easiest skill for them at the beginning of the course, though. Rubí said that the
students of her group were able of introducing themselves and make basic sentences about their
immediate environment. Speaking and listening were the most dicult skills.
Learning Needs
In this study, learning needs involve what learners need to do in order to learn One of the comments
that teachers most repeated was that the students do not have who to practice with and that does
not help much (Tamia, Jaime, Josué). It may be inferred then that teachers should generate as many
opportunities as possible to give students practice with peers in the classroom as outside, they do
not have the chance to do it after class.
As far as the modality of the course, the teachers mentioned that classroom-based lessons
in that schedule did not work much (Josué). We were not able of nding classrooms in some
occasions (Tamia). As far as time, the four teachers coincided that it was not enough and for further
implementations, there may be alternative ways to organize schedules or move into a blended
learning teaching modality.
ere can also be a combination of classroom-based lessons with eld learning experiences
(Josué). He also pointed out that the eld trips he had with the group helped to teach vocabulary.
For further courses, combining classroom activities with eld trips would potentially enhance
learning (Tamia and Jaime). Some of them mentioned the possibility of shift from solely classroom-
20
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
based lessons to blended ones. It can be inferred then that the perceptions that the teachers have
about the teaching modality adds a practical component to lessons that was not considered at the
beginning of the project.
Language skills development during the course
In spite of the diculties, the teachers agreed that their students improved their language skills.
My students learned some grammar, basic vocabulary related to their eld of work (Josué). At
the end of the course, our students were able of giving directions, describing a dish, asking and
answering basic questions about the area where they live, sing some songs in English and talk
about their communities (Tamia and Jaime). On her side, Rubí mentioned that at the end of
the course the students were able of giving directions, talking about the tourist attractions of the
parish, talking about the people, the traditions in the communities, what handcrafts tourists can
buy like embroiders. ese perceptions suggest that in spite of the diculties both, teachers and
students had to deal with there were improvements on learners’ language skills, especially in regard
to speaking.
When asked about future implementation of ESP courses to this target group of students
they mentioned: a new course may have a positive incidence not only in the learners but the
community as there are many attractions in the parish and the people of the community can benet
from them and live on tourism (Josué). Teachers view somehow makes glimpse an opportunity
for tour guides and the community in general to take advantage of the knowledge of a foreign
language, English in this case, to promote their tourist attractions and foment community tourism.
Students Perceptions
Necessities
For this study, necessities are the destination, or what the learner needs to know function properly
in the target situation. During the conversations with the students, all the guides coincided that
the contents of the course should include themes and activities related to the tasks they do at
work. As for the topics, the informants also coincided that giving directions, describing places,
welcoming tourists, customs, basic services, form lling, technical terms, terms related to culture
and handcrafts must be part of the syllabus. e comments made by the informants presented their
understanding of the importance of studying contents that are to directly allow the succeed is they
perform their work.
As for the materials, the eight guides agreed that there should be a coursebook. Among the
reasons for this, one mentioned that in that way students know exactly what they are to study from
the beginning (Carmen). A coursebook is a more organized and easier way to study (María). All the
participants coincided that the text should include topics that replicate the tasks they usually have
to do at work. e perception of learners in favor of using a coursebook can be seen as positive at
rst sight. is as a counterpart will demand teachers to work on a material that not only allows
students to have a clear sequence of contents but also that is adapted to the specic needs of this
target group of students.
Lacks
e lacks here correspond to what students already know or could do with the language before the
implementation phase. e information revealed that except by one, the majority of participants
did not have the B1 certication required by the Ministry of Tourism to obtain their license as
21
ESP: Teachers and Students Perceptions on
Teaching to Tour Guides
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
national guides. e certication of the only participant who has a B1 was issued by a public
university. erefore, it is not considered a valid document by the Ministry of Tourism in Ecuador
as the require an international certication. is information clearly identies an important issue to
be considered. Tour guides in Ecuador need a B1 certication and if that is the objective of English
training for this target students, the implementation of ESP courses should be oriented to develop
learners’ communicative skills, take them to B1 and prepare them to take and pass an international
examination.
When asked whether the current knowledge of English they had was enough to communicate
with the visitors, most participants mentioned that it mildly helped them. However, one of them
radically mentioned that it is not enough (Milton). e perception the learners have of themselves
about their English skills command contradicted the perception given by the teachers who
mentioned that at the beginning of the course most learners were merely able of using very basic
language phrases to greet, introduce themselves or describe places.
Wants
Wants in this study deal with the learners ‘view as to what their needs are. As for the language
skills tour guides need more at work, all the participants agreed that speaking and listening are the
most important, followed by reading and writing. e conversation also helped to identify what
the learners were experiencing in the course. We do not have enough practice in writing (Andrés,
Marco, María and Carmen). It would be a good idea to have more practice in speaking (Sofía, Luis,
Marco, María and Carmen). Others mentioned that there should be also additional practice in
listening (María, Marco, Milton and Andrés). Table three synthesizes the most mentioned tasks by
the learners and that can be included in the syllabus of an ESP course for tour guides:
22
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
Table 4
Summary of tasks and subskills considered wants by learners
Speaking Listening Reading Writing
Guiding in English,
Giving and receiving
in job-related meetings
Talking to foreign
people about places,
customs, traditions and
food
Introducing oneself and
others
Greeting, or
seeing somebody
o, Arranging
appointments
Listen and note taking
Listening for main ideas
Listening for details
Video watching to help
them understand audio
and visual materials
Intensive Reading:
Reading for main ideas
Reading for details
specially passages
related to tourism,
letters and e–mails,
materials which they
may encounter while
using the internet,
science, guiding
reference books,
Ecuadorian culture,
geography, sports and
health.
Writing job-application
letters
Writing job-acceptance
and refusal letters,
Writing reports on
small projects
Writing a resume,
writing business letters
and e – mails.
Learning Needs
Learning needs in this study involved what learners need to do in order to learn. e informants
mentioned that due principally to unforeseen overlaps between work and classes, eleven students
dropped out and fteen tour guides were to end the course. Considering that factor, a majority
of learners suggested that the teaching modality could be changed from solely classroom-based
lessons, to blended learning as teaching modality. ey also commented that during the eld trips
they had had until the day of the focus group, helped them to learn new vocabulary and expressions
that are used in real life situations. For that reason, some mentioned that in this kind of courses, it
would be a good idea to have at least one eld trip every month (Milton and Sofía). e shift into
a blended learning modality and the inclusion of eld trips into the course may represent some
adjustments to new courses not only in terms of using technological platforms for remote lessons
but also using alternative methodological practices on one side and planning eld trips according
to the specic needs of learners.
Learning experiences
As for the general perception of the course, all the participants mentioned that the course helped
them to develop their English language skills. It was noted that all the participants came to the
agreement that taking an ESP course is necessary for tour guides and people involved in tourism,
in general. All of them showed their interest in learning English as they will need to interact with
people from other backgrounds and cultures in their job. Some of them coincided that taking the
course will also help them in further studies, whereas, two of them also suggested that it will help
them pass their courses in the university (Marco and Luis).
Discussion
23
ESP: Teachers and Students Perceptions on
Teaching to Tour Guides
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
e objective of this study was to identify teachers and students’ perceptions towards an ESP course
for tour guides in terms of necessities, lacks, wants, learning needs and the incidences in language
skills development.
As for the necessities, the perceptions from both groups of informants indicated that
contents, functions and language skills and correspondent subskills to be included in the course
must have a strict relation with the tasks tour guides do at work. ese perceptions totally accord
with Hutchinson y Waters (1993), Richards (2010) y, Agustina (2022) believe that ESP is concerned
with equipping learners with language skills competences that allows them to eectively deal with
labor situations that demand the use of English.
Regarding the themes to be studied in an ESP course, both groups coincided that they
must be related to Ecuadorian culture, natural attractions, tour guiding and giving and receiving
information. ese ndings nd support in Ratminingsih, Suardana, y Martin (2018) who claims
that context of improving learners understanding concepts as they use language to talk to another
person. As far as the methodology, the learners suggested that working in groups helped them to
deal with the tasks given by the teachers. is was corroborated by teachers who mentioned that
students benetted of group work when asked to do challenging tasks.
As for the lacks, even though only one of the students mentioned that holds a B1 certication,
most learners mentioned that their current level of English allowed them to understand English
when spoken slowly and to produce spoken English to perform basic functions like saying hello,
introducing themselves and describing places of interest. is information was in discordance with
the perception of the teachers as all of them agreed that at the beginning of the course the students
were not able of producing spoken intelligible English but short xed expressions to say hello and
good bye. erefore, in light of the evidence, teachers had a more objective view of the actual
situation of tour guides before the implementation of the ESP course.
In regard to wants, the reasons for taking the course according to the learners was that the
course could allow them to develop English language skills that help them deal with situations at
work where they have to interact with people from other backgrounds and cultures. In addition, it
was clear that the intention of most learners was to obtain a B1 certication in English that allows
them in turn full the requirements of the Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador for tour guides. During
the focus group with the teachers, it was pointed out that that the course eventually helped learners
communicate in English using basic functions like welcoming tourists, giving directions, describing
tourist places, food and handcrafts which somehow responded to the initial expectations on the side
of the students.
In reference to learning needs, the modality in which further courses can be implemented,
teachers and students suggested that remote teaching may be an alternative to classroom-based
lessons when there are no classrooms available. However, blended learning was in what most
informants of both groups coincided. Chen, Liu, Lin, y Wang (2019) stated that B-learning is an
innovative teaching method in ESP instruction fostering independent English learning skills using
interactive tasks integrated through a virtual classroom atmosphere to enhance students’ learning
engagement and exchange of information. e ndings also suggested that the learners who took
part in this study did not experience taking lessons on line. In addition to this, some other technical
considerations may arise like the poor internet connection in the area. erefore, the option of
using remote teaching combined with classroom-based lessons needs to be put on the table and be
subject of discussion before being implemented with this group of students.
24
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
In addition, the inclusion of eld trips in the schedule was something both groups coincided.
Regarding this, as part of his study on the application of Field Trips in English teaching, Hoang
administered a survey to110 Tourism-majored students from Sao Do University and 110 students
from FPT University randomly. 220 students have shown their agreement that the eld trips are
chances for students to use real English in real contexts related to the job requirements (Hoang,
2020)
Limitations
One of the main challenges faced during the implementation of the outreach project and the ESP
course object of analysis in this study was trying to organize class schedules. is due principally to
overleaps between pre – service teachers schedule in the university where they study and the labor
shifts of learners. is inconvenience also aected the administration of the focus group session with
the learners. Initially, the fteen learners who regularly attended the lessons and who voluntarily
accepted the invitation to participate in the study. However, due to sudden changes in work shifts
only eight of them participated in the focus group session. For further studies, considerations like
this need to be considered so that data collected comes from more informants.
Conclusions
e perceptions of the two groups of participants in this study reinforced the view that ESP is
concerned with equipping learners with language skills that allow them to communicate in the
target language in real work situations. In the case of tour guides, ESP courses implementation
should be preceded by a Needs Analysis that informs curriculum developers and teachers about the
context where the target learners work, what contents should be included in the syllabus and the
pedagogical decisions that need to be made.
Regarding the entry level of English skills of the learners who participated in this study,
the information collected from teachers and learners presented dierent perceptions of the same
aspect. Teachers who, based on their knowledge and experience, gave an evaluative opinion of what
their students were able to do at the beginning of the course and the subjective perception of the
learners who due to their lack expertise in guiding in a foreign language somehow saw themselves
competent in such tasks. To avoid this issue, entry and exit standardized formatted exams must
be administered to learners so that valid information is obtained at the beginning and end of the
interventions.
e requirement of the Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador is clear, tour guides have to
demonstrate B1 skills command in English as part of the requirements to obtain a license of national
tour guides. At work, in situations where they are oering their services to English speaking visitors,
tour guides are very active English users. However, beyond obtaining a certication it is a must for
tour guides to become ecient communicators in the target language and to reach that objective
ESP courses can give them the tools they want.
e perceptions of a good number of participants were in favor of adopting a blended
teaching modality with the inclusion of eld trips that bring new opportunities to learn in real work
scenarios. Teaching modalities adjusted to learners’ situations may benet the learning process.
Teachers and students agreed that in spite of the limitation of time, infrastructure, overleaps
between lessons and work there were improvements in learners` language skills specially those
concerned with basic speaking skills.
25
ESP: Teachers and Students Perceptions on
Teaching to Tour Guides
Obando, J., García, T., & Huanga, A. (Enero – junio 2026). Inglés para nes especícos: percepciones de docentes y estudiantes acerca de la
enseñanza a guías de turismo. Sathiri, 21 (1), 9 – 27. https://doi.org/10.32645/13906925.1421
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