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Tu Na Achieves Doctoral degree on her dissertation “A Study of Tourism Chinese Teaching Strategies in Bali”
On Monday, June 29, 2026, the Faculty of Humanities at Udayana University once again held an Open Defense for the Doctoral Program in Linguistics. The defense took place in the Soekarno Conference Room on the fourth floor of the Poerbatjaraka Building at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Udayana University. The doctoral candidate, Tu Na, presented her dissertation titled “A Study of Tourism Chinese Teaching Strategies in Bali” and successfully defended her dissertation with the grade “Highly Satisfactory,” becoming the 282nd doctoral graduate from the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Udayana University, and the 282nd doctoral graduate from the Linguistics Program within the Faculty of Humanities, Udayana University.
This Doctoral defense, was lead by the Head of the Dissertation Examination Committee, Prof. Dr. I Made Netra, S.S., M.Hum., and accompanied by Committee Members: Prof. Dr. Dra. Ni Luh Ketut Mas Indrawati, TEFL., M.A. as the Supervisor, Prof. Dr. Dra. Luh Putu Laksminy, M.Hum. as Co-Supervisor I, and Putu Ayu Asty Senja Pratiwi, S.S., M.Hum., Ph.D. as Co-Supervisor II. The members of the examination committee for this open defense were Prof. Dr. Ketut Artawa, M.A., Prof. Dr. Dra. Ni Wayan Sukarini, M.Hum., Prof. Dr. Dra. Ida Ayu Made Puspani, M.Hum., Prof. Dr. I Nengah Laba, M.Hum., and Dr. I Gusti Agung Istri Aryani, S.S., M.Hum.
This dissertation presents a teaching strategy for Mandarin for Tourism that has been proven effective in improving language proficiency among two distinct groups of learners in Bali: hospitality management students and immigration office staff. This research is significant given the high demand for Mandarin communication in Bali’s tourism sector, driven by the surge in tourists from Mandarin-speaking countries. Using a classroom action research approach with a mixed-methods design, the research team designed teaching strategies that integrated the Audiolingual Method, the Performance Culture Approach, and Task-Based Language Teaching, with the principles of Mandarin for Specific Purposes as their primary foundation.
The initial pre-test results found the significant challenges faced by both groups. Hospitality management students scored an average of only 50.2, with a pass rate of 24 percent, while the situation was even more concerning for immigration staff, with 16 out of 18 participants scoring zero. However, after the teaching strategy was implemented, the post-test results showed a significant improvement. The average score for the hospitality class jumped to 74.44 with a pass rate rising to 68%, while the immigration class recorded even more impressive results with an average of 76 and a pass rate reaching 77.8%. N-Gain analysis further confirmed this success, with a moderate effect size of 0.53 in the hospitality class and a high effect size of 0.74 in the immigration class, indicating that students who were already working actually demonstrated more rapid learning progress.
The researcher highlighted that the success of this strategy was closely tied to structured time management and the instructors’ ability to adapt to various on-site challenges, ranging from construction noise to irregular participant attendance. Nevertheless, this study also noted several limitations, such as the heterogeneous proficiency levels of the participants and the persistent gap between the material taught in class and the demands of real-world workplace applications. Despite these challenges, this study is considered to make an important contribution to the development of Mandarin for Specific Purposes, while also offering a mixed-methods action research model that can be replicated in various contexts. The researchers hope that the findings and recommendations from this study will not only be useful for refining the curriculum and teaching strategies for Mandarin for Tourism in Bali but will also serve as a valuable reference for other tourist destinations that rely on the tourism sector as an economic driver.
Closing the Open Defense, Prof. Dr. Dra. Ni Luh Ketut Mas Indrawati, TEFL., M.A. as the dissertation promoter conveyed that throughout her studies, Dr. Tu Na, B.A., M.A. had demonstrated a high level of dedication through hard work, sincerity, and discipline in refining her scholarly work. This was clearly evident in the quality of her dissertation, which continued to show significant improvement over time. She emphasized that earning a Doctoral degree is not the end of one’s academic journey, but rather the beginning of greater responsibilities in the world of academia. On this occasion, she also congratulated the doctoral candidate and her family, while expressing her hope that the candidate would continue to produce scholarly work, keep developing herself and gaining knowledge, uphold academic integrity and ethics, and be able to make meaningful contributions to the advancement of science, the institution, and society at large.
UDAYANA UNIVERSITY