A Study on the Graduation Design of Business English Major in Application—oriented Universities under the Perspective of Language Economics

Wang+Yue+Zhang+Ruige

【Abstract】At present， some local colleges and universities are speeding up the transformation and exploration of the training mode of applied talents in the perspective of economics. In order to adapt to this change and reform， the completion of graduation design for business English major should not become a mere formality. We should combine the graduation design with teaching process， learning practice and internship experience， and regulate the evaluation and supervision of the graduation design.

【Key words】Application-oriented Universities； Business English Major； Graduation Design； Language Economics

1. Introduction of Language Economics

Language economics is a new frontier subject of interdisciplinary science， linguistics and economics. According to the theory of language economics， language learning can be regarded as an investment in human capital production. The value of a language depends on how well it is used in different environments. As the most widely used language in the world， the economic value of English is obvious， and business English is also becoming more and more valuable for its wide application in economic activities. Therefore， in the perspective of language economics， as the last link in the teaching process， the graduation design should also lay a solid foundation for students employment and future development.

2. The present situation and problems of the graduation design of business English major in undergraduate colleges

2.1 Unreasonable arrangement of time and lack of teamwork

Similar to other regular undergraduate majors， the graduation design of business English major is generally arranged in the fourth academic year. However， the majority of undergraduate students are busy with internship or in looking for a job in the fourth academic year， so that there is no guarantee of the school time for them to have the timely communication with teachers on graduation design. It is difficult for teachers to guide the students to carry on the thesis design and modification in the face-to-face way. At the same time， most of the students just select and sort out the thesis title by searching literature alone， without team collaboration to do the task like the usual classroom learning， which hinders the exchange and sharing of information and materials.

2.2 The scope of the thesis titles is single and out of practice

Most of the undergraduates majored in business English are evaluated by the way of writing a thesis for their graduation design， and the thesis titles given by teachers are related to the teachers own research direction or the major courses are given， which are single and out of practice. When students write theses according to these titles， there are a lot of burden of literature materials collection， and it will result in the students only put all the materials together with simple copy and paste without understanding of the thesis conception， let alone the innovative design.endprint

2.3 The process of supervision is not strict and the assessment is a formality

Due to the unreasonable time setting， the modifications and advice of graduation design cannot be timely follow-up， which unavoidably results in inadequate management and supervision. Meanwhile， students have not received the relevant training of literature retrieval on graduation design in the courses of daily study， and there is also a lack of normative requirements， evaluation and scientific monitoring system for the graduation design. In addition， because the evaluation method of graduation design is relatively simple， and its process has just become a mere formality， the students have gained less with low interest.

3. The measures of reform for graduation design of business English major in application-oriented undergraduate colleges

3.1 Adjust the design time and carry out the team-work division

In order to avoid the conflict of the time about graduation design and students internship or preparation for postgraduate exam， we should adjust the starting time of the graduation design. The sixth semester of the third academic year is a suitable arrangement. In the early period of the graduation design， we should organize the students to set up a 3-4 people group for work organizing and material collecting according to the titles they have selected. In the teamwork organization， students who participate in internship are required to select thesis titles related to their work practice， which can provide a basis for creation in the design， and the students taking part in postgraduate exam should do the preparation work of graduation design under the assistance of other students in the same team who have got the experiences already.

3.2 Expand the scope of title selection and improve the form of graduation design

There are some innovative forms of graduation design for business English students：

3.2.1 Social research report

The students who choose to do social report should be willing to participate in the research of the production and management in the enterprise， and pay more attention to the economic or social hot spots for further development of the enterprise. Under the guidance of teachers， the students could gradually get the real and reliable data and scientific detailed analysis， find out the problems， give the solutions and gain the clear conclusions in the research report.

3.2.2 Business translationendprint

The course of translation for business English major is compulsory， and it is also a new form of graduation design. Students can take the form of translation reports as their graduation design， which includes the translation of product introduction， company profile， product promotion， business agreement， etc.

3.2.3 Business interpretation

Business interpretation belongs to the interpreting curriculum and is important practice training for business English major. Teachers can guide students to do the practice about interpretation activities in the business situations as follow：the business reception （at the airport etc.）， accompanied with visitors， entertaining banquets， business negotiations and agreements etc.， which could be kept in a file with the form of videos.

3.2.4 Internship practice

The graduation design of business practice is mainly aimed at students internship. Under the premise of commercial secrets， the teacher could guide students to practice writing project reports as their own graduation design， such as import/export documentation， documentary process planning， commodities trading process planning， customs clearance and inspection declaration planning， commercial claims and adjustment etc..

3.3 Standardize the design process and establish a regulatory evaluation system

3.3.1 Arrange design guidance in stages

The graduation design process should be divided into three stages. The first phase can be arranged in the sixth semester， and the students will be guided to find out solution to the problems such as literature collection， data analysis， selection of the title etc.， which can be carried out with the form of elective courses， seminars， departmental meetings. The second phase is in the seventh semester when the students will combine their practical business work with design topic selection to write the draft. In the third stage， after the internship or the postgraduate exam， the students will finally complete the graduation design under the guidance and supervision of the teacher.

3.3.2 Ensure the diversity of evaluation and supervision of graduation design

The traditional evaluation of graduation design is too simple and subjective， and we should establish diversified quality assessment standards and evaluation system. In the term of instruction， the implementation of “dual tutorial system” is an important embodiment of diversity evaluation. “Double tutorial system” refers to the school teachers joint with the industry instructors in the enterprise to expand the intramural unilateral evaluation to many aspects， including the school teachers supervision， industry experts evaluation， assessment of the internship units， cooperation among team members etc.， which can ensure the fairness of the evaluation and supervision.endprint

4. Conclusion

With the globalization and integration of economy， students of business English major are required to have a solid English foundation and strong English application ability， and to become the practical talents needed by enterprises. We need to make the graduation design as an important link of practical teaching， to eliminate the disadvantages of traditional graduation design， and constantly explore the diversified measures of evaluation and supervision.

References：

[1]C.Junyue and L.Zhipan，“Practical considerations in diversifying graduation design（thesis）for English majors，”（In Chinese）Foreign Language Research In Northeast Asia.Liaoning，vol.8，pp.54-48，March 2017.

[2]Y.Jiarui，“Research on the way to improve the quality of graduation design for design majors in local universities，”（In Chinese）Journal of Baoshan University.Yunnan，vol.36，pp.104-108，April 2017.

[3]N.Ruifeng，T.Wenting，L.Zhenlin，and Z.Zhongming，“Thinking and practice of cultivating students innovative abilities in graduation design，”（In Chinese）Experimental Technology and Management.Beijing，vol.32，pp.23-25，April 2015.

*本文為大連財經學院教學改革研究校級立項“探究經濟學視角下應用型本科院校商務英語專業的畢業設計”的階段成果，課題編號： 2016dlcjb11。

作者簡介：

王悅，大連財經學院國際商學院，副教授，從事商務英語的教學與研究。

張睿格，大連財經學院國際商學院，商務英語專業學生。endprint