Abstract:
The study is an investigation into the language needs (phonetics, lexis, syntax) in French for tourism of the workers in the tourism industry in the Central Region, in terms of written and especially oral communication difficulties in French with francophone tourists who arrive in the Region. Data collected from both the workers and the francophone tourists through questionnaire revealed on one hand that almost all of our public are restricted to the use of only English language as a result of the laid down requirements for the recruitment and training of workers in the tourism industry. On the other hand, the francophone tourists lack oral proficiency in English to communicate with workers as well as understanding them due to the speed at which these workers speak. Moreover, workers who studied French at one level or the other, find it difficult to express themselves in the French language. The study recommends among other things that, the decision makers in the tourism industry consider French language as part of the requirements for recruitment of prospective workers and organize a continuous in-service training programme for workers. It will be suitable to equip the workers, majority of which are ready, with another language competency such as French language. This new language competency will make these workers more operational in their field. French could be used as a communication tool in the tourism industry in order to raise foreign exchange earnings.
