A Survey Of Employability Of Accounting Practitioners Among Business English Graduates

Business English has emerged with the trend of China's accession to the World Trade Organization and global economic integration.After the University of International Business and Economics(UIBE)was permitted by the Ministry of Education to set up Business English program in 2007,Business English program has been sprung up like mushrooms in many higher education institutions(HEI)in China.The establishment of Business English Program focuses on the development of interdisciplinary talents with both English and business knowledge.Today,Business English major has trained numerous graduates.However,do these graduates really become the interdisciplinary talents that society needs? Do they have sufficient employability? The exploration of this issue is of particular importance at present.Among numerous types of business knowledge,accounting is one of the most popular ones for students.Known as “the language of business”,it touches upon every aspect of our life.Therefore,in order to explore the employability of Business English graduates deeply and thoroughly,this research studies accounting knowledge as a representation of business knowledge.Based on this,this study aims at finding out the status quo of the employability of accounting practitioners among Business English graduates.Through in-depth literature review,the conceptual framework of the employability of accounting practitioners among Business English graduates was developed based on the employability model and the occupational ability of accounting with some adjustments.With the basis of the survey questionnaire developed by International Center for Higher Education Research Kassel to find out the employability of graduates in 12 countries,the interview outline of accounting practitioners among Business English graduates was designed.Through semi-structured interviews,an in-depth understanding of interviewees' employability was obtained.Through qualitative research,it has been found that the accounting practitioners among Business English graduates generally have strong English ability,but specificaspects need to be strengthened,such as speaking and listening.Compared with English ability,accounting ability is much weaker.Graduates only learned the most basic knowledge of accounting in university and therefore can only do the most basic accounting work.They feel deficiency in time management,working under pressure,leadership,creativity and critical thinking.Meanwhile,they do not have clear career development plans.This study helps Business English students understand their own strengths and weaknesses and find their own positioning so as to make their career development plans in the early time and improve their employability.Moreover,it helps to promote the understanding of the differences between the cultivation of Business English majors and social needs for universities and colleges.It also has certain reference value for them to adjust training programs and optimize curriculum design.However,this study does not quantify the employability of the accounting practitioners among Business English graduates.Future studies can attempt to quantify the dimensions of employability thus reach more concrete research conclusions.