Discussion on Teaching Business English Writing in Higher Vocational Colleges in the Context of Micro Era

Xie+Dan

【Abstract】Based on the analysis of current situation of Business English Writing teaching in higher vocational colleges in the context of “Micro Era”， this paper probes into the new ideas of reforming Business English Writing teaching in higher vocational colleges.

【Key words】“Micro Era” context； Business English Writing； teaching reform

1. A Brief Introduction of the Course of Business English Writing

As a sub-field of ESP （English for Special Purposes）， a branch of EFL （English as a Foreign Language） or ESL （English as a Second Language）， Business English Writing aims to enable the students to convey and communicate their ideas and messages clearly and effectively in the written words in the business environment through plenty of practical exercises and instructions from teachers.

2. Current Situation of Teaching Business English Writing in Higher Vocational Colleges

Nowadays， with more and more things to be labeled as “micro”， from micro blogging， micro videos， micro letters， micro fictions， to the nearest hot micro films， micro travel， modern China has quietly entered into the “Micro Era”. In the “Micro Era” context， new teaching models such as micro learning， MOOCs learning， flipped classroom， “cloud classroom” are used in teaching Business English Writing in some higher vocational colleges due to their unique advantages， which have a positive impact and profound significance on teaching， such as diversifying the forms of teaching resources， breaking the boundaries of teaching time and space， making the teaching methods flexible. But the essential curriculum elements of business English writing has not developed accordingly with these teaching models. To be more specific， in this course， there exist imbalanced relationship among the key curriculum elements such as teaching objectives， teaching contents， teaching methods and teaching evaluations， which seriously interfere with the role and functions that these new teaching models play in the “Micro Era” context.

3. The New Ideas of Reforming Business English Writing Teaching in Higher Vocational Colleges in the Context of “Micro Era”

From the above discussion， we come to learn that there are some problems in teaching business English in higher vocational colleges， thus it is essential for us to explore on new ideas of reforming Business English Writing teaching in the context of “Micro Era”.

3.1 To Reset the Teaching Objectives According to the Requirements of the Working Positions

Teaching objectives are statements which define the expected goal of the course of Business English Writing in terms of demonstrable knowledge or skills that will be acquired by the students as a result of instruction. It makes a description of what the students will be able to do when they complete this course. It is essential for us to reset the teaching objectives of the course of Business English Writing according to his / her future job position in specific business environment. From a recent detailed survey we learn that the vast majority of newly graduates in business English major in higher vocational colleges hold such positions as international sales representatives， foreign trade clerks， international commercial vouching clerks etc.， so it is quite necessary for them to be able to write effective business documents characterized by 7 Cs （clarity， completeness， conciseness， correctness， concreteness， considerations and courtesy） which will help them communicate effectively with his or her potential colleagues and clients. We can reset the teaching objectives of business English writing as follows： after completing this course， the students will get a clear idea of the proper format of business documents， master basic business writing techniques such as choosing proper style and tone， using active voice， maintaining consistency， and writing accurately， briefly and clearly while keeping the readers in mind， and cultivate his / her professional quality such as professional dedication， rigorous professional ethics， teamwork spirit etc.

3.2 To Rearrange the Teaching Content Based on Working Process-oriented Curriculum Design

The teaching content is the carrier of Business English Writing teaching. Reasonable selection and arrangement of teaching content is a very important task. Many teachers believe that the content of business English writing teaching is related to the content in the curriculum standards and teaching materials such as textbooks. In fact， the content of curriculum and the content provided in the teaching materials are the basis and the basic scope of the teachers' selection of teaching contents. Based on the business English writing curriculum standards and textbooks， after fully understanding the students' interest in learning， their background knowledge and skills， the teachers rearrange the teaching content of business English writing according to the working process-oriented curriculum design. It can be rearranged into two modules： routine business documents handling and foreign trade correspondence handling. The former refers to the processing of employment correspondence （job advertisements， resumes and job application letters etc.）， social correspondence （invitation letters， thank-you letters， congratulation letters， apology letters etc.） and in-house correspondence letters （company profiles， memos， notices， minutes， business reports etc.）. While the later refers to the processing of correspondence in terms of establishing business relations （importers or exporters self-introduction etc.）， business negotiations （inquiry， offer and counteroffer etc.） and conclusions of business （placing an order， signing a contract etc.）， performance of business contracts （packing instructions， urging shipment and arranging insurance etc.） and handling business disputes （making and settling complaints and claims）.

3.3 To Innovate Teaching Methods Based on Constructivism Learning Theory

The constructivism learning theory argues that learning as an active process during which learners should learn to discover principles， concepts and facts for themselves. Approaches based on constructivism emphasize the importance of mechanisms for mutual planning， diagnosis of learners needs and interests， collaborative learning climate， sequential activities for accomplishing the objectives， formulation of learning objectives on the basis of the diagnosed needs and interests. Therefore teachers should properly adopt flexible teaching methods to arouse the students interest， initiative and enthusiasm in learning and help them overcome the difficulties in learning Business English Writing. In the “micro era” context， we should make full use of Internet technology and equipment in the process of teaching. To be more specific， based on the Worlduc cloud platform we can create digital learning platform for Business English Writing with full functions， high efficiency and effectiveness. Characterized by openness， sharing， interaction， collaboration， simulation and autonomy， this digital learning platform enable the students to combine independent learning with collaborative learning， online learning with offline learning， theoretical learning with professional skills training， facilitating them to be actively involved in the learning process and helping them enrich their professional knowledge and improve their writing skills.

3.4 To Reform the Teaching Evaluation Based on Cultivation of Students Writing Skills

Teaching evaluation is an indispensable part of teaching process， which has an important impact on improving the teaching effect. Conventional teaching evaluation of Business English Writing， which focus more on teachers evaluation and less on students' self-evaluation， peer evaluation and experts review， more on students performances and less on the quality of their learning experience and courseware， more on traditional examinations and tests and less on other evaluation methods， greatly reduces the positive effect that teaching evaluation plays in promoting students' development. Therefore In the context of “micro era” the teachers should reform their teaching evaluation based on cultivation of students writing skills. It is strongly recommended that dynamic assessment be used in this course， where assessment is seen as a continuous and interactive process that measures the achievement of the students， the quality of their learning experience and courseware. The feedback created by the assessment process serves as a direct foundation for further development. We should use multiple methods of teaching evaluation involving multiple sources of data. The range of evaluation can be extended from detection of students' acquired knowledge of writing skills and strategies to the students' intelligence potential， emotional attitude， and learning style and so on. It can successfully achieve the goal to assess the true potential of learners that differs significantly from conventional tests. In this way， the learners are encouraged to be actively involved in the learning process and achieve better performances in this course， unlike previous teaching evaluations where the responsibility rested with the teachers and where the learners played passive and receptive roles.

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【基金项目】本文系娄底职业技术学院教学改革研究项目《“微时代”语境下高职院校商务英语写作诊断式教学研究》（项目编号：LZJGB1603）的阶段性成果。

作者简介：谢丹（1983-），女，湖南娄底人，硕士，娄底职业技术学院外语系讲师，研究方向为商务英语教学与翻译。