A pragmatic analysis of the effects of youtube in acquiring request and apology speech acts on Thai EFL hospitality undergraduates

Pragmatics is one of the most crucial communicative competences for the Thai hospitality workforce. The need to acquire communicative competence is a necessity for Thai workers in the hotel service industry. Therefore, pragmatic instruction for Thai EFL undergraduates can be further improved to develop their pragmatic
competence. The present study aimed to compare the impact of two types of pragmatic teaching methods, YouTube Interventional Teaching Method (YITM) and Conventional Teaching Method (CTM) on the process of teaching request and apology speech acts in the hotel front desk service of 60 Thai EFL hospitality undergraduates.
The study also examined the effect of pragmatic instruction with YouTube on students’ pragmatic performance and their perception on learning pragmatics with YouTube. The sample was divided equally into the experimental group and control group. The
participants in the experimental group were taught using the YouTube Interventional Teaching Method. The data collected through a written discourse completion test (WDCT) was quantitatively analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANCOVA and Cohens’ d and qualitatively scrutinized with content and thematic analysis. The results indicated that both types of instruction improved learners’ performance of pragmatics in request and apology speech acts. However, students who learned pragmatics through the YITM performed better than the control group who learned through the CTM in using requests and apology in situations related to hotel front office service. This includes the ability to use correct speech acts, expressions and vocabulary, as well as provide adequate information in an appropriate manner. The findings provide insights into the facilitative impact of pragmatic instruction using YouTube, as well as present suggestions for EFL/ESP teachers and English instructional materials developers.