Pengembangan “the Whispering Shelter” dengan Participatory Action Research untuk Meningkatkan SDM BUMDes

Abstrak

The economic progress of rural communities is influenced by the quality of human resources that are adaptive to tourism developments. One of the strategies for improving community welfare is strengthening the capacity of Village-Owned Enterprises (BumDes) managers thru community service programs. This research aims to improve the English communication skills of the managers of BumDes Sinergi as a form of community empowerment-based social service. The hypothesis of this research states that English training can improve the speaking skills and professional readiness of managers in serving foreign tourists. The implementation method uses a participatory action research approach with stages of socialization, practice-based training (role play), technology application with a website and bilingual online modules, as well as evaluation based on Pre-Test and Post-Test. The research subjects consist of 8 managers of BumDes Sinergi, divided into three skill categories: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. The main indicators of success are measured thru the improvement in English speaking skills scores and the implementation of bilingual standards in tourism services. The results show a significant increase between the average Pre-Test score (78.89) and the Post-Test score (86.63). In conclusion, the "The Whispering Shelter" training proved effective in enhancing the capacity of BumDes Sinergi's human resources in international communication, thereby strengthening the position of the tourist village in tourism network. This program has also proven effective as a pilot model for human resource capacity development in other tourism villages aiming to integrate bilingual standards into their tourism services.

Keywords: English Language Training, Community Service, Tourism Development