Openings and closings of telephone enquiries on hotel accomodation
The aim of the study is to examine the openings and closings of telephone enquiries on hotel accommodation in Kuching city. The objectives of the study were : (i) to examine the structure of the opening and closing of telephone enquiries on hotel accommodation; (ii) to examine...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Final Year Project Report / IMRAD |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, UNIMAS
2008
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/6760/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/6760/7/NGU%20SHING%20YIING.pdf |
| Summary: | The aim of the study is to examine the openings and closings of telephone
enquiries on hotel accommodation in Kuching city. The objectives of the study were
:
(i) to examine the structure of the opening and closing of telephone enquiries on hotel
accommodation; (ii) to examine language features characterizing openings and
closings of hotel enquiries. Telephone conversations between the receptionists of 37
hote
ls in Kuching and the researcher had been audio
-
recorded by using MP4. For the
analysis of openings, Pallotti and Varcasia’s (2006) framework for analyzing opening
sequence is
greeting + identification + availability
. As for closing, Colonel
-
Molina’s
(1998
) framework for analysis is
preclosing + new topic initiation + recapitulation +
leave taking.
The findings revealed that the most common opening sequences are
greeting
(n=10);
greeting + identification
(n=10) shared by medium class hotels and
budget hotel
s. Opening sequence of
greeting + identification + availability
occurs in
hotels with high rating (n=2). There are more openings for hotels with high rating in a
conversation rather than medium class hotels and budget hotels because one
receptionist switch
es the customer to other receptionists. The most common closing
sequences are
preclosing + leave taking
shared by hotels with different rating (n=33).
The structure of opening sequence is more standardized than the closing sequence.
Hotels with high rating
used more formal language features or phrases such as
“Thank you for calling” and “May I help you?”. However, the receptionists from
budget hotels use not very formal language such as “hello” and “XXX” (hotel name)
to greet the customers. As for closing,
language features used are similar among
hotels such as “Ok”, “Welcome”, “Thank you” and “Bye bye”. However, some
receptionists from budget hotels use language features such as “ah” or “mmh” to
close the conversation. The data for the study can be used as
authentic material for
English for Professional Purposes in future. |
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