Exploring English Speaking Learning Style Preferences of Hospitality Students in Makassar

Abstract

Effective English communication is increasingly essential for hospitality students because the tourism and hospitality industry requires professionals to interact with international guests and stakeholders in diverse communicative situations. This research investigates the English learning preferences of Hospitality students in Makassar, particularly regarding speaking and pronunciation activities, as a basis for developing contextually relevant English instruction. A quantitative descriptive approach was employed, using a questionnaire to identify students’ preferences for various speaking and pronunciation learning activities. The findings demonstrate a strong preference for interactive, collaborative, practical, and visually supported speaking activities. Group discussion was the most preferred activity (85%), followed by describing pictures or objects (82.5%), describing two different pictures or objects and explaining procedures (77.5% each), and giving arguments about cases (75%). For pronunciation, learning through dictionaries received the highest preference (72.5%), followed by imitating pronunciation modeled by lecturers or instructors and learning from native speakers through digital applications (70% each). English debating received a relatively lower preference (42.5%), suggesting that more demanding activities may require gradual scaffolding, although they remain important for developing spontaneous speaking, argumentation, and critical thinking. Similarly, tongue-twister activities (60%) can support articulation and fluency as supplementary practice. Overall, the findings indicate that Hospitality students favor learning experiences that promote active participation, authentic communication, technological engagement, and practical language use within authentic hospitality communication contexts. The research therefore recommends an industry-oriented Hospitality English syllabus integrating collaborative tasks, visual materials, authentic workplace simulations, pronunciation modeling, and technology-assisted practice to strengthen students’ communicative competence and professional readiness.