A Study on Business English Competence Scale in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone from the Perspective of Language Service Think Tank

School of English,Xi’an Fanyi University,Xi’an,China Email:447071657@qq.com

[Abstract]The development of free trade zone needs a large number of foreign trade talents,and the language ability scale can make the measurement of such talents convenient and efficient.Based on the analysis of the current situation of business English application ability and employment criteria of foreign trade talents in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone,this paper discusses the development of business English application ability scale under this background and its role in the construction of language service think tank,in order to provide powerful language service support for the development of Shaanxi Free Trade Zone.

[Keywords]Free Trade Zone;Business English talent;ability scale;language service

Introduction

Over the past three years since the establishment of Shaanxi Free Trade Zone,it has attracted a large number of language service talents,but it is also confronted with the problems of inconsistent standards and low efficiency of measuring the language application ability of these talents.Therefore,a unified and efficient language competence scale for free trade zone should be developed based on a comprehensive and accurate analysis of the current competence status of language service talents in the zone and the existing standards of talent employers,so as to effectively improve the level of language service think tank construction in free trade zone.

Current Situation of Business English Application Competence of Foreign Trade Talents in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone

Foreign trade talents of free trade area mainly engage in import and export trade,business negotiation,translation,secretarial and administrative work concerning foreign affairs in the area of foreign-related enterprises,financial institutions,administrative institutions,and need the language application ability of business English listening,speaking,reading,writing,translating,especially the ability of business English translating,writing and business negotiation in the field of international trade and cross-border e-commerce.

Currently,the colleges and universities which open business English major generally set the curriculum for training students’business English application abilities,including business English listening,business English speaking,business English reading,business English writing(including foreign trade English correspondence),business English translating(including interpretation and translation),and business English negotiations,etc.,organize students to attend China National Business English Test(level 1 and level 2),Test for Business English Major(TBEM band 4 and 8)and Cambridge Business English Certificate(BEC)(primary,intermediate and advanced).In addition,they also have carried out regularly some business English internships,practical training,practical activities,discipline competitions and innovation and entrepreneurship projects or competitions,which practised students’business English application ability through various ways.The specific performances include:being able to obtain relevant information of foreign trade business(business English reading and listening ability);communicate effectively with foreign customers,negotiate transactions(business English listening,speaking and translation ability); read and write business English correspondence(business English reading and writing ability);use cross-border e-commerce platform to carry out foreign trade business(business English writing and speaking ability);draft,sign and execute foreign trade contracts(business English writing,speaking ability).

So,how do these foreign trade talents evaluate their business English application ability?According to the questionnaire survey of 130 students in a university recruitment fair,the self-evaluation of various abilities is as follows:

(a)Business English Writing and Translation Ability

These two capabilities are language output capabilities.The survey shows that only 2.3%of students think their business English translation and writing ability is very good,27.5% think it is good,48.1% think it is average,and 6.1% think it is poor.It can be seen that nearly half of the current students’practical business English writing and translation ability is average,and only one third of them think they are good or very good.

(b)Business English Listening and Reading Ability

These two abilities are language input abilities.According to the survey,no students think their business English listening and reading ability is very good,and those who think they are good account for 20.6%,average account for 47.3%,and poor account for 7.6%.It can be seen that nearly half of the current students’actual business English listening and reading ability is average,while less than a quarter is good.

(c)Business English Negotiation Ability

This ability involves two kinds of language ability:input and output,and it is a comprehensive application ability.According to the survey,no students think their business English negotiation ability is very good,only 17.6%think it is good,42% students think it is average,12.2% think it is bad,4.6% think it is very bad.It can be seen that less than a half of students whose practical ability of business English negotiation is average,and less than one-fifth is better.

In conclusion,at present the ability of business English listening,reading,writing and translation of nearly half of the foreign trade talents is average,which can basically meet the demand of free trade zone construction,but business English negotiation involves various ability,less than half of the talents reach the general level,while the good is fewer,which inspire that the training of language service providers should be strengthened emphatically.

Recruitment Criteria for Business English Talents in Administration Organizations and Foreign Trade Enterprises in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone

The recruitment units of business English talents in the Free Trade Zone are mainly the management institutions and foreign trade enterprises in the Zone,and their recruitment standards are of great reference value to the business English talent suppliers(including colleges and universities,their collaborative education providers and language training institutions).The following is a brief review of the recruitment criteria or requirements of the above two types of business English talent recruiters in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone in order to provide useful references for the talent suppliers and lay a foundation for the author to study the business English application ability scale of foreign trade talents under the guidance of free trade zone.

Recruitment Requirements for Business English Talents in the Management Organization of Shaanxi Free Trade Zone

as a management organization,Shaanxi Free Trade Zone Office will timely recruit foreign language talents,and its recruitment requirements are special and widely concerned.According to an announcement on the open selection of civil servants on its official website in August of the same year,business positions related to foreign languages for recruitment are international trade and English.The application requirements are“Applicants for international trade business positions must have a full-time bachelor’s degree or above in economics; Applicants for English business position must be English or English linguistics majors,ordinary full-time university bachelor diploma or above,and bachelor or above degree”; the written test requirements are“Written test is divided into business position test and integrated position test,which mainly test the candidates’comprehensive quality and professional knowledge”,the interview test requirements are“implemented in the form of a structured interview,which mainly test the required basic quality and ability to fulfil position responsibility”.It can be seen that the above requirements for hiring business English talents are not specific and they need to know their job responsibilities in detail.

The author saw one recruitment position of service position for foreign industry in a public“Post Demand Table for 2017 Annual Recruitment in China(Shaanxi)Free Trade Pilot Area”,whose post responsibility is described as“responsible for the reception contact and translation work of investment investigation group”,one of the qualifications is“graduated from foreign language major,proficient in at least one foreign language such as English,Russian,Korean,German,Spanish and so on,preferably bilingual”.This is still not a clear description of the language application ability of business English talents,which is not easy for applicants to grasp.It can also be regarded as a defect or even vacancy of the current recruitment standards for business English talents in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone.

Recruitment Criteria for Business English Talents in Foreign Trade Enterprises of Shaanxi Free Trade Zone

The construction of Shaanxi Free Trade Zone needs a lot of applied business English talents who can meet the demand of the industrial development,so the enterprises of logistics,insurance,finance,convention and exhibition and manufacturing industries in the Zone recruit business English talent all year round,with the largest number of foreign trade talents,and mostly require their strong ability of English language,judgment and communication,practical operation of foreign trade business.According to the investigation on the foreign trade enterprises in the Zone,the specific employment criteria are as follows:

(a)Language Skill Standard

The language skill standards for hiring business English talents in foreign trade enterprises of Free Trade Zone include oral expression ability(more than 85% of the enterprises’most cherished ability,such as business English speaking,interpreting and negotiating ability)and written expression ability(more than 99%of the enterprises valuing,such as business English writing and translating ability),intercultural business communication ability(more than 60% of the enterprises valuing)and the ability to access to information(more than 35% of the enterprises valuing,such as business English reading ability).

(b)Business Skill Standard

The business skill standards for hiring business English talents in foreign trade enterprises of Free Trade Zone include business negotiation and marketing ability(75% enterprise requiring),international trade operation ability(70% enterprise requiring),and business English conversation and speech ability(nearly 60% enterprise requiring),practical operation ability of cross-border e-commerce platform(nearly 40% enterprise requiring)and copywriter planning ability(nearly 30% enterprise requiring),and of course these abilities vary with the business scope of each enterprise.(Xu,2018,p.107)

(c)Comprehensive Quality Standard

The comprehensive quality standards for foreign trade enterprises in the Free Trade Zone to employ business English talents include critical thinking,innovative ability and autonomy learning ability,teamwork ability,organization ability,executive ability,public relations ability,post adaptability,psychological endurance ability,time management ability,office equipment control ability and cross-cultural communication ability.

It can be seen from the above recruitment requirements or standards of the management institutions and foreign trade enterprises that the standard of business English talents in the Free Trade Zone is not detailed,so its maneuverability remains to be enhanced and need a set of more detailed standards aiming at Shaanxi Free Trade Zone,which puts forward the urgent demand of reality for the development of business English application ability scale of foreign trade talents under the guidance of Shaanxi Free Trade Zone.

The Development of the Scale of Business English Application Competence for Foreign Trade Talents Under the Guidance of Shaanxi Free Trade Zone

It can be seen from the above recruitment requirements or standards for business English talents that Shaanxi Free Trade Zone needs to introduce the standards of language application ability with strong pertinence and maneuverability for foreign trade talents.The scale of language competence is a tabulated description of the ability to use language to engage in related activities,all describing a person’s language application ability with“can do”as the sentence pattern,and it can be figuratively understood as“what tasks he/she does with language under what circumstances,and how well he/she does”for a language user.Therefore,the development of business English application ability scale can provide an edge tool for the government and enterprises to conveniently and accurately measure the business English application ability of foreign trade talents in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone.

according to the strategic positioning of Shaanxi Free Trade Zone,combined with its foreign trade talent demand,the condition of existing business English talents,recruitment standards or requirements of enterprises and institutions,connotation of five language competence of business English,development experience ofChina English Competence Rating Scale and Common European Framework of Reference for Languages,the development of the business English application ability scale under the guidance of Shaanxi Free Trade Zone can be divided into the following steps:

Confirming the Typical Application Occasions of Business English in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone

Language competence descriptors must be able to comprehensively describe various situations in which language users use the language.Therefore,business English competence descriptors must be able to comprehensively cover all typical application situations or activities of the language.For the Free Trade Zone,these occasions are typical jobs for business English users,which can be obtained by conducting questionnaire surveys and field interviews with governments and enterprises in the Free Trade Zone to understand their needs.Through the survey and the interview,the author found that Shaanxi Free Trade Zone plan to develop emphatically nine industries:electronic information industry,new energy automotive industry,high-end manufacturing industry,medicine and health industry,modern agriculture industry,port-vicinity industry and airport industry,cultural tourism industry and exhibition industry,therefore,the typical occasions of applying business English include the following post groups(Zhang,2020,p.139).

Table 1:Typical Application Occasions of Business English in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone

Language Post Group Translator or interpreter,foreign secretary,bilingual teacher,etc construction of five major centers including transportation,commerce,trade and logistics center,international production capacity cooperation center,science and technology education center,international tourism center and regional financial center;nine major industries including electronic information,new energy vehicles,high-end manufacturing,medicine and health,modern agriculture,port-vicinity,airportvicinity,cultural tourism,exhibition

Confirming the Typical Application Tasks of Business English in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone

after confirming all kinds of typical occasions(i.e.post groups)in which business English is used,it is necessary to make clear what specific language tasks,or specific work content,should be accomplished in these occasions or within the scope of business English.Taking the above foreign trade post group as an example,the work content or language tasks involved in each post are as follows:

Table 2:Typical Application Tasks of Business English in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone

Confirming the Description Parameters of Business English Application Competence in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone

after confirming the application content of business English in the Free Trade Zone,it is necessary to study and confirm the description angle of business English competence involved in each application content and know from which aspects to describe completely and objectively.These aspects are called application ability parameters.In general,no matter what language tasks business English completes on what occasion,it is essentially five basic language abilities,including business English listening,speaking,reading,writing and translation.Taking the application of business English in foreign trade posts as an example,the parameters used to describe the five language abilities are respectively confirmed as follows according to the job content of these posts:

Table 3:Description Parameters of Business English Application Ability for Foreign Trade Posts in Free Trade Zone

Confirming the Descriptors of Each Parameter of Business English Application Competence in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone

After confirming the parameters describing each application ability of business English in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone,it is necessary to confirm the specific descriptor of each parameter.To ensure the scientificity and universal applicability of these descriptors,such means as literature method,sampling method,personal intuition or experts recommendation can be used to collect comprehensively the existing evaluation statement or detailed descriptor of various typical task situation of business English application,use statistical analysis software to make classified statistics,and then establish a descriptor bank of business English application ability in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone,confirm the descriptors of all parameter through repeated consideration,and classify ability grades.

Developing the Scale of Business English Application Competence in Shaanxi Free Trade Zone

After confirming the descriptor of application ability,the scale of application ability can be developed.First of all,to solicit opinions on competence descriptors of various levels by using the methods of expert experience of enterprise and university,symposium of front-line teachers at university,interview with language user and other methods,make appropriate adjustments according to the situation,and then a preliminary scale of business English application ability is developed.Then,a trial test is conducted among various business English users(such as college students and enterprise employees),and professional statistical analysis software is used to conduct professional empirical analysis of reliability,validity and differentiation,and corresponding adjustments and improvements are made to the descriptors with poor feedback on reliability,validity and differentiation,and then the next round of test is conducted.After repeated testing and improvement,the reliability,validity and discrimination all reach the optimal value,thus the scale of business English application ability of Shaanxi Free Trade Zone is finally compiled.Due to space limitation,the scale developed by the author’s team will not be displayed here.

In conclusion,the development positioning of Shannxi Free Trade Zone has produced a large amount demand for foreign trade talents and language services think tank.In recent years,the strengthened coordination among the government of free trade area,enterprises and colleges and universities within the province has improved the language service level,which meets the demand of the development of the free trade zone to some extent.However,there is no a set of authoritative,unified and practical employment standards for foreign trade talents such as business English talents,so the targeted research should be made as soon as possible.The competence scale of business English is a convenient and effective talent measurement standard and an important content of language service.Therefore,the competence scale of business English under the guidance of Shaanxi Free Trade Zone will greatly improve the construction of language service think tank in the zone,and then accelerate the realization of the strategic positioning function of Shaanxi Free Trade Zone.This is the research significance of this paper.

Acknowledgements

This paper is the phased result of“Research on Business English Proficiency Scale from the Perspective of Language Service Think Tank in Free Trade Zone”(No.18JK0991),a scientific research project of the Education Department of Shaanxi Province,and subsidized by the Construction Fund for First-class Business English Major in Xi’an Fanyi University.