An Empirical Study on Business English Teaching and Development in China—A Needs Analysis Approach

Abstract

This paper first reviews the developmental history and status quo of Business English Program in China. Then based on the theory of needs analysis, it researches on 226 questionnaires from Business English Program students from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies to investigate the problems encountered and current situation of Business English Program in China. From the statistical analysis of the questionnaires, it finds: (1) employment and interest are the main reasons that students choose Business English as their major, but the current Business English teaching materials haven’t fully considered student’s demands for vocational requirements; (2) it should take into account both the learners’ and societies’ needs in Business English curriculum arrangement to increase the number of business-related courses appropriately; (3) students generally agreed that they lacks business knowledge and skills, so Business English courses should focus on cultivating the practical business skills; (4) Business English teaching materials should always be practicality oriented and targeted and communicative; (5) in order to improve teaching effectiveness, Business English teachers should consciously adopt different teaching methods targeted for different teaching content during the teaching process; (6) teachers’ morality, knowledge, teaching style and mutual relationship with students can be further enhanced to meet the needs of students.