Evaluation Of Business English Comprehensive Coursebooks Based On Needs Analysis

According to Ministry of Education,250 universities have established Business English undergraduate major until 2015.With the rise of Business English,important issues such as curriculum design,teaching methods and appraisal should be taken into consideration.Coursebooks take a great account in the whole teaching process,which are the carrier of achieving teaching goal,and also the bridge between students and teachers.It is of great practical significance to explore whether coursebooks meet the needs of learners.This thesis is an empirical research on BE comprehensive coursebooks evaluation of undergraduate BE majors in School of English in Beijing International Studies University.It aims to find whether target coursebooks can meet learners' target needs and learning needs.Taking McDonough & Shaw coursebooks evaluation theory as the theoretical basis,along with Hutchinson & Waters' framework of needs analysis,this thesis is intended to make a systematic evaluation of Market Leader Business English Course Book by questionnaires,semi-structure interview and observation method.Questionnaires were handed out to 130 Business English majors in BISU and 60 in-service employees.Interviews were done with two experienced BE teachers to investigate their opinions and suggestions on coursebooks during their teaching.Combined with the author's half-year class observation,the thesis finds that the target BE coursebooks basically satisfies the learners' needs.From the external evaluation,target coursebooks' physical appearance is attractive and the book involves a wide range of business topics with audio-visual aids,and supplementary materials are enough.From the internal aspect,the content can cultivate learners' English proficiency,balancing reading,listening and speaking skills and exercise are various.Its authentic language,on one hand,creates a real working situation,and on the other hand,increases learning difficulty.Based on the above study,some suggestions for improving Market Leader are put forward,including exploring stereoscopic coursebooks,defining target audiences by standard examinations and compiling coursebooks on the basis of needs analysis.It is hoped that this study can give certain implications for further development and adaptation of BE comprehensive coursebooks.