Chinese communication training course for upgrading economy and tourism towards improving quality of life in secondary urban society, Thailand

Abstract

Although there are some Chinese language training courses for tourism in Thailand, these courses often focus on major cities or key products in large cities and lack systematic development for secondary cities that are seeing an increase in Chinese tourists. This research addresses the issue by designing a curriculum suitable for the context of secondary cities, developing local businesses that have not been studied in detail before. This research aims to develop a Chinese communication training course to promote the economy and tourism in secondary cities of Thailand. The objectives are: (1) to create a Chinese communication training course to enhance the economy and tourism towards improving the quality of life in secondary urban societies; (2) to evaluate the Chinese communication skills of the sample group after receiving training in Chinese communication to enhance the economy and tourism for the development of quality of life in secondary cities; and (3) To assess the satisfaction of participants who received Chinese communication training to enhance the economy and tourism for the development of quality of life in secondary urban areas and to utilize the benefits. Research areas include Kalasin Province and Maha Sarakham Province, focusing on developing listening and speaking skills used in daily life, conversation in simulated situations, and the use of vocabulary related to trade and services. The developed course has been evaluated as highly accurate and reliable, significantly enhancing the Chinese communication skills of the trainees. The trainees expressed a high level of satisfaction as the content is relevant to real work and can be immediately applied. The recommendation for future research is to conduct further studies on the long-term outcomes of the course by following up with the trainees 6-12 months after the training to measure the retention of skills. Additionally, the course should be developed and tested in other provinces to compare its effectiveness in different areas. This course can be adapted for Chinese tourists to communicate and promote products and services in secondary cities, helping tourists understand the benefits and effectively develop the tourism industry in Thailand's secondary cities. It can also serve as a guideline for designing future Chinese language courses.