Foreword: 2nd Editorial Introduction

Abstract

The teaching of Business English has had a history of over 50 years in China. A milestone event in its history was the accreditation of the Business English program at the University of International Business and Economics as an undergraduate program by the Ministry of Education of China in 2007. By the end of 2010, 15 institutions of higher learning in China have won approval to operate their Business English program. To run the new undergraduate program requires answering a number of questions regarding the syllabus, content, course design, methodology, etc. These are issues applied linguistics should address. The booming of Business English in China has come in response to the need of China's socio-economic development, the reform of English education in China, and the advances in research for business discourse and English for specific purposes. While China's economy is increasingly globalized, there arises the demand for a large number of talents well-attuned to international business and adept at intercultural communication. As part of the reform of English education in China since the 1990s, the program for English majors has been called on to train composite-type talents and to put the emphasis on the integration of language learning and study of a specialized field, such as language and literature, language and culture, language and business, language and law, and language and diplomacy. Questions have arisen as to what a composite-type talent needs to learn and how language learning and the study of subject matter can be integrated. The answers to these questions can be found in business discourse studies and English for specific purposes. ... I hope that this special issue on Asia ESP will serve to showcase the research and practice in Business English teaching in China and to provide a venue for exchange of experiences and thoughts with colleagues in Asia and beyond.