English Majors' Needs For Business English Learning

With the fast development of world economy in the recent ten years, Business English has outweighed English for Science and Technology as the most important, the most active and the most developed branch of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The main issue of Business English teaching is course design. ESP researchers think that needs analysis is the first step in course design. A thorough needs analysis help people define problems in language teaching.However, for a long time, needs analysis proves to be an overlooked procedure in Business English teaching in China. This thesis aims to analyze English majors' needs for Business English learning. The subjects are 90 third-year and fourth-year English majors in Dalian Maritime University, a national key university of science and technology. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews. The content of the needs analysis includes students' motivation, learning preferences, evaluations of course designs, expectations for teachers' qualifications, and opinions of textbooks.Results indicate that English majors have distinctive needs for Business English learning. Most students held positive attitudes towards Business English learning for good job prospects. They preferred small-group discussion for better interaction, liked to use multi-media learning for real-life business practice, and liked to take internships to apply what they have learned. They were generally satisfied with course variety and course intensity, but they were less satisfied with course difficulty. They expected teachers to have operational business experience for learning more about the business world. Besides, they preferred textbooks in original English version for standard language input.In practice, on the one hand, this needs analysis can provide reliable information about students' learning needs for English program designers, on the other hand, it offers teachers suggestions for setting teaching goals, choosing teaching methods, and using textbooks. Besides, it might help students identify their learning goals, thus improving their learning efficiency.