Examinando por Autor "Aguti, Grace"

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The English language proficiency of the agritourism actors related to the community scenario at EARTH University.
(Universidad EARTH, 2020-12) Aguti, Grace; Grant, Shahidah; León Rodríguez, Elizabeth; Morales Flores, Paula
Costa Rica has a strong tourism sector within Latina America with its tourists primarily from English-speaking countries like the United States. The official language is Spanish yet, the country has a high demand on the English international market. It is estimated that 80 % of the visitors come to enjoy Agritourism related activities in rural areas of Costa Rica, owned and managed by monolingual farmers. In this investigation the participants were referred to as actors, however, they are recognized as farmers in the region of Guácimo. Consequently, these farmers are at a disadvantage as they cannot communicate and engage effectively with their tourists. This study aims to determine the English language proficiency level of the actors in order to elaborate an instrument that will aid them in the learning of the language to boost their Agritourism businesses. Specifically, it evaluates the necessity of bilingualism within the Agritourism sector for effective communication with the clientele. In this context, bilingualism is defined as the ability of farmers to communicate both in English and Spanish. To achieve this objective, structured interviews were conducted with two specialists in the area of tourism and an educator of the English language. While for the actors, an Agritourism questionnaire was prepared, of which due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was applied through direct phone calls as physical meetings were restricted as a preventative measure. The responses were analyzed using Excel and the results showed that all the actors had very low English Language proficiency levels therefore, most of the tourists that come to their farms required a tour guide to help in the translation. The results suggest that the actors need and are willing to learn the English Language. In this way they will be able to market their businesses and/ or products along with improving the quality of the services that would attract more visitors. On this basis, it is concluded that the concept of English Language acquisition among the actors should be considered since it is increasingly necessary for business and international communications linked to prospects for economic competitiveness and growth in the global economy.