ENGLISH FOR HOUSEKEEPING: AN ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS AND SPEECH ACTS USED IN DAILY OPERATIONS

Abstract

English proficiency is a pivotal competency for hospitality employees, specifically within the Housekeeping Department, where staff operate in the private spheres of guests. This study aims to identify the specific language functions and speech acts used by housekeeping staff during their daily operations. Grounded in Searle’s Speech Act Theory and Brown and Levinson’s Politeness Strategies, this research employs a descriptive qualitative design. Data were collected through observation of staff-guest interactions in a four-star hotel. The findings reveal that Directives (requesting permission) and Expressives (apologizing, greeting) are the dominant speech acts. The study further highlights that housekeeping staff predominantly utilize Negative Politeness strategies to mitigate the imposition of entering a guest's private room. These findings contribute to the development of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) syllabi that prioritize pragmatic competence over mere grammatical accuracy.