Teaching Arabic for tourism purposes in Perlis: Needs, opportunities and challenges

Abstract

With an increasing number of Arabic-speaking tourists in Malaysia, particularly in the northern region including the state of Perlis, the needs to accommodate their needs has emerged in the light of teaching Arabic for tourism purposes. As teaching language for specific purposes differs from general purposes, it must be implemented based on specific tourism-related situations faced by learners based on the need analysis. This study intends to investigates the necessities in implementing teaching Arabic for tourism purposes in Perlis in term of needs, opportunities and challenges. Drawing on the existing literature, tourism data and current initiatives and plannings, this study identified that positive trends of Arab tourists, importance of communication skills in tourism sector, addressing staff language and cultural gaps as the main needs for this initiative in Perlis. Among the opportunities proved by this study are international tourism events, embedding Arabic language into education, developing digital and blended learning and strategic partnership. However, challenges persist including lack of qualified trainers, material limitations, logistical and financial constraints besides low learning motivation among tourism employees. This study provides practical recommendations in addressing the needs, seizing opportunity and navigating challenges such as localized learning materials, micro-credentials and cultural immersion programme, Arabic interpreters’ trainings, digital learning platforms and strategic partnership. Hence, this study demonstrated the needs towards teaching Arabic for tourism purposes in Perlis as a strategy to equip the employees with required Arabic communication skills. To conclude, this initiative is beneficial to enhance service quality and tourists’ satisfaction which contributes in positioning Perlis as a leading tourism destination among Arab tourists.