EBP Curriculum Design Based on Need nalysis（NA） Theory

夏秋怡

【Abstract】Under the context of globalization， more interdisciplinary talents are needed for the further development of our country. English for Business Purposes （EBP） is playing an increasingly important role. Therefore， many universities have opened Business English courses in order to prepare students for their future careers.

【Key words】EBP； Curriculum Design； Need Analysis

Ⅰ. Main Body

1. Introduction

ESP is an approach to language teaching which aims to meet the needs of particular learners. Thus， it can also be defined as an approach to course design which starts with the question ‘Why do these learners need to learn English？ Indeed， a well-conducted NA can lead to curriculums and courses designed to ensure that students will learn precisely what they need.

2. Need Analysis

As a branch of ESP， EBP stresses specific communicative purposes under specific circumstances. In general， the key to need analysis is to find the distance between a learners current level and his own expectation or requirement.

Target needs can be divided as necessities， lacks and wants.

a. Necessities

‘Necessities are defined as the type of need determined by the demands of the target situation， that is， what the learner has to know in order to function effectively in the target situation. In other words， necessities refer to the linguistic features and functions required in a specific context.

b. Lacks

‘Lacks refer to the gap between the necessities and what the learner already knows. That is to say， it is the gap between the current proficiency and the target proficiency. To decide what necessities the learner lacks， we must find what he already knows first.

c. Wants

‘Necessities and ‘lacks mentioned above are relatively objective needs， but ‘wants are rather subjective. ‘Wants are what the learner himself thinks he needs to learn in order to function effectively in the target situation. Therefore， ‘wants differ from one person to another. The higher standard the learner sets for himself， the more he wants.

3. Implications for EBP Curriculum Design

3.1 Achieving a Balance between ‘Business and ‘English

The question which bothers a lot of schools is that whether they should put the emphasis on ‘Business or ‘English. The dominant view is that the focus should be on English， and other courses about economics or management begin in the second or third year. However， it is not necessary for us to decide a ‘focus on any part. ‘Business and ‘English should be integrated. They are all necessities for students. Students should be encouraged to learn both in a systematic way.

3.2 Combining Theories with Practice

In our country， most EBP courses still follow the traditional theory-teaching mode. Teachers just impart the knowledge and ignore the practical skills. However， students are supposed to have the ability to communicate in business contexts. In their future workplace， they will frequently deal with foreign clients through business calls， e-mails or letters. It requires a high level of communicative competence.

3.3 Emphasizing the Quality Rather than the Quantity

It is common that universities cannot decide what to teach， because ‘business involves so many different areas. The most convenient way is to design a lot of selective courses for students to choose. Yet it is impossible to cover all the areas. As an EBP learner， one has to have a good command of business knowledge instead of just learning some shallow ‘introductions. It is suggested that universities narrow the range of the courses， but extend the teaching periods. In this way the students are able to dig in one field.

Ⅱ. Conclusion

Generally speaking， need analysis serves the purpose of identifying the learners needs， in order to meet their needs effectively. NA is an important process as it provides instructions for curriculum design.

Nowadays some international enterprises place an increasingly high premium on ones professional English proficiency. To meet the high requirements of the society， an EBP learner has to integrate language skills with professional knowledge. Therefore， the curriculum design should aim to cultivate compound talents for development of our society as well.

References：

[1]Tom Hutchinson&Alan Waters：English for Specific Purposes， 2002.

[2]Ellen J.Serafini：Need Analysis for Specialized Learner Populations：Essential Methodological Improvements，The ESP Journal，2015.

[3]Sylvie Donna：Teach Business English，2016.