{"id":1423,"date":"2015-11-04T14:37:09","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T14:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.moroccodemia.com\/en\/?page_id=1423"},"modified":"2019-03-04T11:07:30","modified_gmt":"2019-03-04T11:07:30","slug":"marrakech-express","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.moroccodemia.com\/en\/marrakech-express\/","title":{"rendered":"“Marrakech Express”: a Textbook of English for Tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Marrakech Express by<\/span>\u00a0Hassan Bouzidi<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n
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\"Publications<\/div>\n

Title<\/i>: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Marrakech Express
\n<\/span>Author:<\/i>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Hassan Bouzidi
\n<\/span>Description<\/i>: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A Textbook of English for Tourism
\n<\/span>Subject<\/i>: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ESP
\n<\/span>Publisher<\/i>: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maarif, Rabat<\/span>
\nDate<\/i>: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2007<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Marrakech<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

The Need for Marrakech Express<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The holiday industry is by far the most important in Morocco.\u00a0 According to the Moroccan Ministry of Tourism over three million people are now employed in the Travel and Tourism-related industries inside the country.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As the number of foreign visitors to Morocco continues to rise each year, industries connected to Travel & Tourism are increasingly feeling the need for personnel with foreign language skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Travel & Tourism industry, there is a wide range of fields in which English language skills are needed:\u00a0\u00a0tour operators, travel agencies, business travel specialists, villa rental companies, airports, airlines, ferry operators, tourist boards and local authority departments.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are undergraduate courses in Tourism at the ‘Instituts de Hautes Etudes Hoteli\u00e8res et Touristiques’ in a number of cities inside the country.\u00a0 In response to the Higher Education reforms (now well into their\u00a0second phase) public universities have began introducing the \u2018business English\u2019 and \u2018English for tourism\u2019 components into their English Studies programs.<\/span><\/p>\n

As reflected in the survey I conducted for this course, English in Morocco is used as a foreign language: it is not widely used for communication, nor is it used as a medium of instruction.\u00a0 The only education institution that uses English as a medium of instruction for all subjects is Al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane and a few branch campuses of foreign universities.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this setting, there is limited exposure to English outside the classroom.\u00a0 Apart from the few occasions where learners get to meet native speakers of English (mainly tourists and business people), there is very little opportunity to use it.\u00a0 To make up for this disadvantage, Marrakech Express<\/b> has been built in such a way as to provide rich and diverse linguistic input and include extensive recycling of key target-language items.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Purpose of Marrakech Express<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

This book is an integrated English course intended for students entering their undergraduate career in the area of Travel & Tourism as well as for those already employed in the sector.\u00a0 It is designed to help them understand and use the language of the Travel & Tourism business.\u00a0 It will help them gain the necessary language skills to fill professional positions in the Travel & Tourism sector in Morocco.<\/span><\/p>\n

The existing global courses have not been designed for this particular market and are therefore totally unsuitable.\u00a0 \u2018Usability\u2019 is the principle which should guide any such course: it should reflect needs in terms of content as well as the teaching\/learning methods adopted.<\/span><\/p>\n

The overall aim of Marrakech Express<\/u> is to assist learners gain access to the English language demands they encounter in the Hospitality industry.\u00a0 The Course will help them recognize and learn the language patterns required in their professional context.\u00a0 By the time learners finish the course, they will be able to carry out the basic communicative tasks required from employers in the Travel & Tourism industry, ranging from \u2018taking a booking’ to ‘organizing an excursion’.<\/span><\/p>\n

The book focuses on raising the learners’ oral skills as well as their communicative<\/i> (pragmatic) skills<\/i>.\u00a0 To develop their communicative skills and better prepare them for the workplace, learners are exposed to authentic spoken English and are encouraged to (a) engage in discussion, debate and role-play (emphasis here is put on the interactive and personal aspects of language), (b) be aware of various aspects of local geography (Unit 9), history (Unit 10) and customs (Unit 12) and be able to deal with those contents at a good conversational level.<\/span><\/p>\n

Learners are introduced to a wide range of texts in travel writing<\/i> to help expand their vocabulary and to encourage them to use new vocabulary items in written exercises.\u00a0 They are given opportunities to read texts that show quality in language use, and portray information, issues, and events (relating to Travel & Tourism) in ways that are challenging.\u00a0 They are given opportunities to analyze and evaluate materials related to their area of specialization and to explore in which such media can be used to obtain the best results for purposes of advertising (Unit 14) or applying for a job (Unit 15).<\/span><\/p>\n

The course is especially devised taking into account aspects of the local culture, geography and history.\u00a0 All content<\/i> is relevant to the Moroccan Travel & Tourism context.\u00a0 And since learners can relate to what is being said they grow in motivation<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The cross-cultural<\/i> dimension of the holiday industry is also given due consideration.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Structure of\u00a0Marrakech Express<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The course comprises 15 Units.\u00a0 Each unit contains a passage\/dialogue followed by a set of tasks (vocabulary review and practice, language practice, etc.).\u00a0 A number of other activities\/tasks (e.g. role-playing and making dialogue) are also included in each unit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to writing the course, I consulted extensively with graduates, employees and employers to discuss their attitudes and elicit feedback.\u00a0\u00a0 Needs analysis revealed information that enabled me to construct the Marrakech Express<\/u> textbook around three interlocking areas: language, content, and communication skills.\u00a0 In the Travel & Tourism context, communication skills covers such activities as ‘socializing’, ‘telephoning’, and\u00a0 ‘presenting factual information’.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Marrakech<\/a><\/div>\n

The textbook contains clear instructions for each activity.\u00a0 It can be used in class with a teacher, or as a self-study course alone or in groups.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/span>Marrakech Express\/<\/span>Hassan Bouzidi<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marrakech Express by\u00a0Hassan Bouzidi Title: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Marrakech Express Author:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Hassan Bouzidi Description: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A Textbook of English for Tourism Subject: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ESP Publisher: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maarif, Rabat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1423","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nMarrakech Express | Hassan Bouzidi | moroccodemia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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