Material Evaluation On Market Leader Course Book

As a very important branch of ESP, Business English (BE) grows very fast in recent years in China. In order to cultivate market-satisfied and high-qualified BE talents, it is more and more important to establish the system of the subject of BE, especially in the aspect of materials. The BE course book is one of the most important one in all courses in the subject of BE. Because there is not a unique syllabus about BE course in China and there are discrepancies in cultivating aims of BE majors in different HVTE colleges, the material users feel difficult to choose suitable BE materials and the compilers also confuse. Whereas the above situations, this thesis tries to evaluate a foreign BE material introduced and adapted by Higher Education Press named Market Leader Course Book (MLCB) according to some related theories and find its advantages and disadvantages. After adaptation and addition to the material, this thesis also puts forward some suggestions to the writing of BE materials which are suitable to HVTE in China.The research firstly reviews the current study on ELT materials evaluation inbound and outbound and then introduces the criteria and approaches mentioned in three scholars’ monographs which are suitable to evaluate the BE materials. On this basis, the theories and framework of this evaluation are illustrated. The evaluation has two processes:objective analysis of the material and evaluation on the usage of the material. In the first process, according to Hutchinson&Waters’ checklist, the author analyzes and evaluates the MLCB from the aspects of audience, aims, content (including language, skills and content organization) and methodology.In order to make the evaluation more objective, in the second process, the author designs a questionnaire for students based on Hutchinson&Waters and Ellis&Johnson’s checklist. After finishing the investigation during the sophomores and juniors of Business English major in Wuhan Marine College, the author interviews three teachers about their opinions and commons on the MLCB. The results of data analysis in this process generally tally with the author’s judgment in the first process.The evaluation results show that the MLCB is a set of learner-centered materials. It merges business study well with language study. It can attract students and be convenient for teachers in their teaching. The atmosphere in classroom is relaxed and active. It has rich topics, clear structure, attractive layout, suitable difficulty level, outstanding skills training work, changeable types of exercises and enough additional sources. All of the above are helpful to arouse students’ enthusiasm in learning, to improve students’ language ability and to help teachers prepare lessons and organize teaching flexibly. However, MLCB does not only focus on HVTE students. Therefore, choosing suitable level for the HVTE students is a dilemma. Lack of some knowledge learning and skills training such as translation skills and foreign trade knowledge as well as high requirements to teachers and classrooms are MLCB’s major weaknesses.At the end of the thesis, the author considers four suggestions to future HVTE Business English material writers or editors based on the results of the evaluation:1. Obey the learner-centered principle;2. Merge the learning of language knowledge into the training of language skills and emphasize the skills of listening and speaking;3. Give attention to both business thoughts teaching and business skills training; and4. Utilize every method to improve students’ professional qualities.