The Study On Feasibility Of ESP Teaching In Non-English Majors In Independent Colleges

With the development of social and economic globalization,English,as a lingua franca,plays an increasingly important role in international communication.Under the background of internationalization of China's higher education,how to cultivate multilingual talents for the current society is the focus of attention in the field of foreign language teaching and research,and also an important aspect of tertiary English teaching reform.Traditional English for general purposes(EGP)has been far from meeting people's needs for English learning.Under such circumstances,English for specific purposes(ESP)has attracted more and more researchers' attention.Along with the knowledge-economic times arriving,the tertiary education has become a basic industry with strategic significance so that more and more independent colleges in China have sprung up and developed.Compared with ordinary colleges and universities,the orientation of independent colleges is to cultivate applied talents.But how to cultivate high-quality ones is a question worth pondering.For a long time,however,independent colleges have been influenced by the education model of general undergraduate colleges.In other words,independent colleges have not formed their own characteristics,which is particularly prominent in the English teaching of non-English majors.Instead of basing on the actual situation of independent colleges,the selection of English materials,the training of teachers and the teaching methods are all based on the general undergraduate education,which is difficult to reflect the orientation of independent colleges--training applied talents for the country.In this context,some scholars and researchers have pondered and studied English teaching in independent colleges,which undoubtedly promotes the development of English teaching in independent colleges.This research is also based on the purpose of exploring English teaching in independent colleges in order to find more effective ways to improve English teaching.Due to the objectives above and the interests of researchers,this study selects the teachers and students of independent colleges as the research subject.Through the investigation and analysis of students' learning situation,students' needs,classroom teaching status and teachers' level in independent colleges,this paper attempts to study the feasibility on ESP teaching in non-English majors in independent colleges.The theoretical bases of the study is ESP teaching theory and need analysis theory and this study employs quantitative and qualitative research methods.Through a questionnaire survey of 198 students majoring in financial management and a semi-structured interview with 10 English teachers in Information College of Shanxi Agricultural University,the following conclusions are drawn:Firstly,the overall English level of non-English majors in independent colleges is unsatisfying,and they do not grasp the basic ability of listening,speaking,reading,writing and translation.Secondly,students in non-English majors in independent colleges have great interest and needs for ESP courses.They believe that ESP will enhance their interest and enthusiasm for learning English,and will be conducive to future employment.Thirdly,the current situation of classroom teaching for non-English majors in independent colleges is not optimistic,English teachers,who are not capable of professional knowledge,do not have the ability to combine English with professional knowledge.Some students are conflicted with EGP teaching and have low participation in the classroom.Through interviews with teachers,it can be seen that teachers' ambiguity about teaching purposes and teacher-centered teaching mode in classroom activities are still the mainstream of English classroom.Through the analysis of the three factors affecting the feasibility on ESP teaching in non-English majors in independent colleges,it can be seen that although the teaching situation of EGP is not optimistic in independent colleges,and students have needs for ESP teaching,students' basic knowledge of English is relatively poor,and teachers do not have the ability to combine language and professional knowledge.Therefore,at this stage,ESP teaching is not easy to carry out in non-English majors in independent colleges.