Research On Course Design Of English Major In Vocational College Based On Needs Analysis

With the trend of economic globalization, students who are good at English and business are urgently needed in China. In order to meet this demand on them, a lot of higher vocational colleges set up Business English major. Course design is very important for the major construction. Meanwhile, Business English is one of the most developed branches of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Its course design should be based on needs analysis. However, for a long time, researchers overlooked needs analysis procedure in Business English course design in China. This thesis aims to analyze the social needs for Business English talents in higher vocational colleges as well as Business English majors' own needs for Business English learning. The subjects are the staff of foreign companies in SuZhou and Business English teachers and students major in Business English in SuZhou Vocational College. We collected data through questionnaires and interviews. The investigation of the social needs includes the post needed in the job market, professional knowledge and job skills, trans-cultural communication ability, English language skills, experience, etc. The investigation of the Business English majors'needs analysis includes students'motivation, learning preferences, evaluations of course designs, students' expectations for teachers'qualifications and their opinions of textbooks. Based on the results of the study and the current condition of SuZhou Vocational College, we will propose some suggestions for the improvement of business English course design. This study is aimed on the one hand to provide scientific information for higher vocational colleges to set up Business English major, and on the other hand to shed some light on the course design in Business English major construction. And it will have some significant meaning to higher vocational colleges in their training of Business English talents.