The rationale for Business English Syllabus

譚玉娣

摘 ? 要： The syllabus is designed for a one-year business English course for 33 staff from Sino-Silicates Company. This rationale will analyse the arrangement of the syllabus from the following aspects： needs analysis， product-oriented， culture， in-class activity and material selection.

關鍵詞： product-oriented syllabus;culture;in-class activity;material selection

中圖分類號：H319 ? ? 文獻標識碼：A ? ? ? ?文章編號：1005-5312（2016）30-0286-01

This syllabus is designed for a one-year business English course for 33 staff from Sino-Silicates Company. As Seedhouse （1995） points out， the needs analysis plays an important role in syllabus design because a direct link can be drawn from needs to aims to course design， which suggests that learners needs should be of prime consideration in designing a syllabus. Therefore， the content of this syllabus is designed based on the needs analysis results from the 33 students， which can be seen in the first and second columns of the syllabus above.

According to Nunan （1998：27）， “product-oriented syllabuses are those in which the focus is on the knowledge and skills which learners should gain as a result of instruction”. It is obvious that the syllabus above is a product-oriented syllabus because each part students will watch a relative videos or reading a sample writing first. The syllabus is designed by breaking one big area of business English into several small parts according to different topics or styles. It can be seen that the ultimate aim of the syllabus is to imitate real scenarios in business work to help students progress effectively.

In addition， Brooks （1968） states that "emphasized the importance of culture not for the study of literature but for language learning，” which suggest that cultural backgrounds is also a considerable element in ESP classroom. Therefore， in some units， like social conversations and attending meetings， I designed a separate part of culture introduction to make students know about different culture customs and etiquette so that they will be able to perform appropriately in future work.

After the column of content， I designed a column of in-class activity， which can make a real learners-centered class. It is a fact that there are many benefits of organizing activities in class. It increases the amount of students speaking time dramatically， allows students to work and interact independently and helps the classroom to become a more relaxed and friendly place for language learning （Harmer， 2007）. Indeed， Donna （2002） also states that role-play should be used as often as possible as it is enjoyable， help students develop fluency and confidence， make students clear about how the language ‘fit together in real use， and realize culture difference in practice. Therefore， in-class activity is absolutely a necessary component of ESP class.

As to the selection of material， all the handouts and videos that are used in the class are chosen from real business scenarios. Since Tomlinson （2003： 37） states that， the selection of materials should put the materials into a specific teaching context， in which to balance the needs and interests of the teachers and learners. In order to encourage and interest the students， some distinct videos and samples of former students are also used as models in class. Like Cook （1999： 198） notes that a practical way of moving towards an L2 user model is to present students with examples of the language of L2 users and of the language address to L2 users”. Hence， the videos of former students do not serve as materials only， but also an encouragement to the students. They will be motivated by this and believe the goal is more achievable for them.

Lastly， it should be noticed that although this syllabus is designed meticulously， it is far from being perfect. Appropriate changes could be made during the process of teaching. Hopefully， this group of students will benefit from this course.

Bibliography：

[1]Brooks， N. 1968. Teaching culture in the foreign language classroom. Foreign Language Annals， 1， pp. 204-217.

[2]Cook， V. （1999） ‘Going Beyond the Native Speaker in Language Teaching TESOL QUARTERLY 33 （2）， pp. 198.

[3]Donna， S. （2000） Teach Business English. Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.

[4]Harmer， J. （2007） The Practice of English Language Teaching. 4th Edition. ?Harlow： Pearson Longman.

[5]Nunan， D. （1988a） Syllabus Design. Oxford University Press.

[6]Seedhouse， P. （1995） ‘Need Analysis and the General English Classroom. ELT Journal 49 （1）： 59-65.

[7]Tomlinson， B. （2003） Humanizing the coursebook. In B. Tomlinson （Ed） Materials Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge： Cambridge University Press. pp.162-173.