The Attitude Business EnglishTeachers Should Hold Towards Business Contents

【Abstract】For the past two decades， the international trade in China has been dramatically on the rise and the professionals talented in business and proficient in English are highly demanded. Thus， a number of universities have set up Business English major and Business English teaching has become the focus of ESP research. This paper discusses Business English teachers’ attitude towards business contents; two specific questions are asked： “Is it necessary to teach highly specialized materials in business”， and “What should Business English teachers know in order to carry out meaningful classes”.It concludes that although it is not necessary to use highly specialized materials in class and teachers don’t need to receive formal academic training， Business English teachers should know something about business in order to carry out productive class activities， and thus are encourage to hold positive attitude towards business contents and humble enough to learn the basics of business.

【Key words】 Business English; English teaching; business contents

【作者簡介】鄒旭，四川外國語大學。

Ι.Introduction

According to the data published by the China Customs， the total value of China’s exports and imports in 2018 was $4. 62 trillion， having increased 12.6% year-on-year. In comparison， the total value of exports and imports was $620.7 billion in 2002， the year after China joined WTO. No doubt thatthe international trade in Chinahas been dramatically on the rise and the international market has been unceasingly expanding. Meanwhile， Business English has always served as lingua franca in the business world， and professionals talented in business and proficient in English are highly demanded in China. Therefore， around 150 universities have set up Business English major till the end of 2018 and possibly the number will continue to rise. Moreover， Business English teaching has become the focus of ESP research. In reality， the education background of most Business English teachers is General English， so they often raise such question as how to deal with business contents in English class. This paper discusses Business English teachers’proper attitude towards business contents.

At the beginning， the premise of the paper is that Business English teachers should understand the business contents， at least those involved in teaching materials. As General English teachers are supposed to understand the social and literary contents of the teaching materials， so the same principle must apply to the business and commerce contents to be taught by Business English teachers （Hutchinson and Waters， 1987）. However， as mentioned， most Business English teachers have been trained as General English teachers， and traditional language learning mainly involves social and literary contents. As a result， many Business English teachers find it difficult and feel reluctant to learn about， let alone to teach business matter. In order to promote a more positive attitude of Business English teachers， we can further explore two more specific questions：

1. It is necessary to teach highly specialized materials in business？

2. What should Business English teachers know in order to carry out meaningful classes？

Ⅱ.To teach highly specialized materials or not？

On the one hand， grammar of language is not clearly connected to specialization of knowledge. Except that the discourse structure could be more formal and denser， there is no much difference from less specialized texts （Hutchinson and Waters， 1987）. The main difference may be the special vocabulary and terms， but it does not really make the language more difficult.“The linguistic knowledge needed to comprehend the specialist text is little different from that required to comprehend the general text”and“The difference in comprehension lies in the subject knowledge， not the language knowledge” （Hutchinson and Waters， 1987）. According to Hullen （1981）， “… it is not the usage of technical terms per se which distinguishes language for special purposes from general language， but the factual knowledge necessary to understand these words.” On the other hand， since specialized texts look more relevant and professional， Business English students expect to use them in class and would complain about non-business texts， which they feel no difference from General English. But as the author has observed， students would become bored soon by such texts with little variety and lose their interest.

For teachers， “the competence is an essential ingredient in the teaching-learning process” （Hutchinson and Waters， 1987）， so when choosing teaching materials， the knowledge and competence of teachers need be properly considered， and it is best to avoid the highly specialized texts which cannot be dealt with effectively and make teachers feel less confident and competent. If forced on teachers， it will never help them develop positive attitude towards business contentsbut undermine a good rapport between teachers and students， which is essential in language classroom. In short， teacher’s knowledge and competence should be taken into consideration in text choice and material design.

Ⅲ.What knowledge to be required？

Business English teachers are language teachers instead of business teachers. So they don’t need to get a business diploma or degree， which is unnecessarily time-consuming and expensive. However， as mentioned， “teachers’ competence is an essential ingredient in the teaching-learning process”. From another perspective， Business English teachers need know about business matter， at least those involved in the texts， in order to carry out meaningful interactions and communications in class.

Ⅳ.Conclusion

When it comes to dealing with business contents， Business English teachers often have fear and hostility. In order to encourage a more positive attitude， this paper tries to answer two questions： “Is it necessary to teach highly specialized materials in business” and “What should Business English teachers know in order to carry out meaningful classes”. In general， “English foundation” comes before “business”. Although it is not necessary to use highly specialized materials in class and teachers don’t need to receive formal academic training， Business English teachers should know something about business in order to carry out productive class activities， and thus are encourage to hold positive attitude towards business contents and humble enough to learn the basics of business.

References：

[1Blundell， J. A. and Middlemiss， N. M. G. 1982. English for the Business and Commercial World： Career Developments， Oxford： Oxford University Press.

[2]Hullen， W. 1981. ‘The teaching of English for specific purposes： a linguistic view’ in Freudenstein， R.， Beneke， J. and Ponisch， H. （eds.）， Language Incorporated： Teaching Foreign Languages in Industry， Pergamon.

[3]Hutchinson， T. and Waters， A. 1987. English for Specific Purposes， A Learning-centered Approach， Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.

[4]Little wood， W. 1984. Foreign and Second Language Learning， Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.