A Case Study Of CBI In The Teaching Of Business English

With China's successful entry into WTO and the rapid development in the course of economic globalization, there is an urgent demand for qualified professionals possessing high-level foreign language and profound professional knowledge in every field, especially in the field of business. A great number of universities or colleges have laid great emphasis on the teaching reforms of business English courses for the English majors. However, it is generally accepted that, despite the fact that a good many graduates majoring in business English have been produced for the society in recent years, the teaching quality of business English course leaves too much to be desired.CBI (Content-based Instruction) is regarded publicly as an effective way to integrate foreign language learning with subject content learning. CBI emphasizes that in the foreign language teaching, teaching activities need to be conducted around subject knowledge instruction and the students need to be provided with real and meaningful environment for communication for the purpose of improving their English proficiency. The teaching of Business English is thought of as the integration of language teaching and business knowledge instruction. Therefore, CBI provides a solid theoretical foundation for the innovation of business English teaching. The present research aims to explore the possibility of applying CBI to business English teaching and investigate some good ways to implement CBI in the actual practice.The thesis carries out a case study of business English teaching in Liaoning Shihua University. A variety of instruments and research methods are adopted in the case study, including questionnaires, interviews, classroom observations and examination. Two classes of English majors orienting International Trade have been selected as subjects for the present research. Class 2005, as a controlled class, employed traditional teaching models while the experimental Class 2006 has consistently applied CBI in business English teaching and has attempted to adopt new teaching models with the guidance of CBI theory. The new adoption of teaching models is mainly carried out from the perspectives of the following three aspects: teachers, teaching materials and teaching methodology. After about an academic year's investigation, findings are yielded as follows: when CBI has applied to business English teaching in Class 2006, the teaching effects and students'academic achievements are dramatically enhanced. Students are increasingly interested and motivated for English learning. What's more important, students'practical use of English has been effectively improved. The effects of the research have proved that CBI is one of practical and effective way to enhance students'language competence and professional content knowledge. However, there are still some problems existing in the actual teaching of business English, which needs to be conquered in the future research so as to reach the ideal goal of what CBI is required to achieve.