| Business English is seen as a major branch of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and due to the booming development of economy and international trade, business English has become a heated topic for researchers and scholars. Many researchers probe into business English from various angles, such as course design, syllabus design, needs analysis, teaching material, teaching content, teaching methodology, teacher qualification and education, and assessment system. Some other researchers focus on the proper positioning of business English as an independent discipline. In the past, many researchers have made extensive study of business English in vocational colleges comprehensively, however, few of them focus on independent colleges, which is a new educational model. Therefore, this thesis strives to investigate the issue from a new angle to analyze the current situation of business English courses in independent colleges, taking Hubei University Zhixing College as an example.The study investigates86senior students who are English majors and have chosen business English as their orientation and five teachers. The students’ questionnaire and teachers’ questionnaire are in similar construction and inquire into their attitudes towards business English course design, teaching materials, teachers, teaching methodology and assessment.105students’ questionnaires were distributed and89were collected, with86valid and five teachers’ questionnaires were collected. The students’ interview and teachers’ interview were carried out to investigate the in-depth information, like their opinions and suggestions to supplement the questionnaire. The interviews were carried out after class. The classroom observation for four major business English courses lasts for four weeks (once a week,90minutes a week). The author observed the classes and noted down how the classes were constructed as well as the interaction between teacher and students. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences V16.0) was used to analyze the data collected. The thesis is conducted with the following three questions in mind:1) How are business English courses designed in the independent college?2) How is the teaching of business English courses implemented?3) What are the students’ attitudes towards business English course design and its implementation?After the data analysis, the findings are as follows:1) The current Business English course can partly meet students’needs but the course allocation is inappropriate and lacks variety and diversity. Practice and internship are not covered in the course design.2) The current materials are published textbooks. The language is simple and plain but the exercises are dull and are mostly simple repetition work without variety and creation. Little introduction of cultural aspect and humanities is involved.3) Students like their teachers for they think the teachers are responsible and patient. However, teachers’qualifications are far from satisfaction. There is no pre-service or in-service training in any form. The cooperation between language teachers and business specialist hardly exists.4) Most of the class time is devoted to explanation of business points, which is what students want. In the meantime, teaching methodology lacks diversity and can not meet students’ needs.5)Assessment also lacks variety and neglects the importance of communicative skills.It is suggested that students’needs analysis and social needs analysis should be carried out during the process of course design. A reasonable and proper way to rearrange and reallocate business English courses is in demand. More attention should be paid to the selection and compilation of suitable materials as well as teacher education or training and a reform in course evaluation. |
PDF Full Text Request