Programme for Business English Majors

Abstract

This programme has evolved over the past 60 years in response to the social and economic needs of China, in particular the drive for globalisation, where business English serves as the lingua franca for international business. It is also driven by the reform in English as a foreign-language education in the traditional English literature and linguistics faculties at Chinese universities - for example, to address the unsatisfactory development of critical and creative thinking in English-major students. It is argued that business English better responds to Chinese English language students' needs in the age of globalisation and has the potential to promote critical and creative thinking through a close integration of business subject matter and language in the process of English-language learning (Zhang, 2007; Zhang & Wang, 2011).