Focus On Learner: Thoughts On The Methodology In Teaching Business English To Non-English Majors

Based on basic theories of ESP (English for Specific Purposes), the current paper aims to explore the methodologies in teaching BE (Business English) through a two-part case study by focusing on non-English-major learners (the 1^st part) and how teachers conduct teaching activities in classroom (the 2^nd part) in order to answer: 1. To what extent, does the GE (General English) proficiency affect students' attitudes towards BE learning? 2. How can BE teachers motivate the learners to learn BE in classroom?This study is undertaken to illustrate some problems which exist in the BE teaching in Guizhou College of Finance & Economics. It is concluded that non-English majors' GE proficiency does affect their attitudes towards BE learning to a large extent, especially the difficulties in learning process and preference of teaching methods in classroom. Besides, the coherence between GE and BE and the positioning about future career also have effect on their BE learning. The learners' attitudes in turn exert impact on the teachers' teaching. While focusing on needs analysis (including the analysis of the learners' present situation needs and the target situation needs, together with the learning needs) which is inevitable in BE teaching, what BE teachers employ must be consistent with the basic principles of language learning, which underpin a learning-centered approach and should be tailored to the learners' current GE level, while some traditional methodologies can not be abandoned completely.