The Analysis of Linguistic Needs of People Interested in Learning Arabic for Health Tourism Purposes

Due to the growth observed in the health tourism sector, learning Arabic language for health tourism purposes has turned into a principal necessity within the last decades. However, to this day no curriculum based upon the appraisal of these needs has been proposed for this specific type of Arabic learning. The purpose of the present study is to analyze the linguistic needs of those keen on learning Arabic for health tourism purposes, and also to categorize these needs. This paper is considered to be the first step required for planning a specialized curriculum for this type of learning. To collect the relevant data, we have carried out a survey using questionnaires and interviews. The database comprises the information of 130 male and female graduates of Arabic language and literature, who have received their BA, MA and PhD from 19 public universities in Iran. Having interviewed the tour leaders and staff working in the health tourism sector, we concluded that the linguistic needs of Arabic enthusiasts for the purpose of health tourism can be divided into four basic elements: the four language skills, the specialized information pertaining to medical tourism, the specialized information about curative tourism and the basic, primary skills for guiding tourists. Each of these parts contains some auxiliary needs that will be referred to in the following. The results derived from the questionnaire indicated that the four language skills and the basic and primary skills for guiding tourists stand first amongst the Arabic enthusiasts’ needs with the purpose of health tourism, and that the information relating to medical tourism and also curative tourism is of lesser importance.