A Study Of The Influence Of ESP Teachers’ Related Work Experience On Class Teaching----A Case Study

With the development of social economy and the deepening of globalization, the needs of English learners undertake great change. English has become a tool for communication.In this situation, ESP which is the abbreviation for English for Special Purpose came into being. ESP teaching has an obvious difference from traditional English teaching. Traditional English teaching focuses on language itself with imparting of vocabulary, grammar and sentence structures as the center, while ESP teaching puts emphasis on the developing of students’ professional ability. For example, in business English teaching the development of students’ capacity to use English in business working situation is stressed.ESP was first studied in1960s in foreign countries and considerable progress of ESP study in China has been achieved in recent years. However, problems still exist amid which the structure, quality and training effect of ESP teachers are immediate concern. In China, teachers who are engaged in ESP teaching have studied linguistics or literature in university. Few of them are equipped with professional knowledge or skills. As a result, traditional English teaching mode is still adopted in their teaching with the development of students’ linguistic ability as the center. The teaching of ESP is faced with problems due to the lack of ESP teachers. Many higher educational institutes and scholars are exploring ways to train and cultivate ESP teachers. Some of them propose that ESP teachers should have work experience in related industry such as companies or factories for a period of time to acquire professional knowledge and skills in a full way. And this proposition has been attached great importance to by experts. Since the year of2011, the Ministry of Education has implemented a national training plan to send teachers from colleges and universities to work in companies and factories. Most of the teachers who were sent to companies and factories are ESP teachers.Is it really necessary to send teachers to work in companies or factories? Does the work experience really help improve ESP teachers’ class teaching? The research focuses on that covering the following two questions:1. Does ESP teachers’ related work experience have an influence on their class teaching?2. If the first question is confirmed, how does ESP teachers’ related work experience influence their class teaching? And what is the relation between them? The researcher chooses two business English teachers in the same vocational college as research subjects. A series of studies including examination result analysis, questionnaire survey and classroom observation are adopted to follow and assess the two teachers’ class teaching. Then the researcher conducts interviews with several business English teachers who have related work experience to further investigate the relation between related work experience and class teaching. In the last part, based on the previous research, the researcher attempts to propose ways to train and develop ESP teachers. Through the research, it is found that related work experience of ESP teacher would influence ESP teachers’ teaching effect in a positive way from the perspectives of teaching strategy, teaching content and class interaction. On the basis of the research, the researcher proposes ways to build up ESP teachers’ work experience.