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Becoming a Teacher of Business English in China: A Critical Narrative

  • Bin Ai

    Bin AI is an associate professor at the School of Foreign Studies, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. His current research interests focus on Business English, teacher development, and intercultural studies.

     EMAIL logo     , Lifei Wang

    Lifei WANG is a professor at the School of Translation and Interpreting, Beijing Language and Culture University. His recent research focuses on Business English studies, business discourse analysis, and linguistic economics.

         and Alexander Kostogriz

    Alexander KOSTOGRIZ is a professor at the Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia. His current research projects focus on professional practice and ethics of language teachers, teacher education, and experiences of beginning teachers.
Published/Copyright: August 16, 2019
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Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics
From the journal Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics Volume 42 Issue 2

Abstract

In the Chinese higher education sector, Business English, a newly emerging discipline, has attracted great attention, and since it was approved officially in 2007, about 400 universities and colleges have offered this degree course to students. Among in-service Business English teachers, some of them have transferred from teaching English for General Purposes. Business English teachers face many changes and challenges to their professional identity, yet few scholars have looked into the identity construction of these teachers. Using critical narrative as a method, this paper closely examines the identity construction experiences of the first author and two other Business English teachers. It is found that the participants, including the first author himself, have endured identity negotiations and various challenges in turning from a teacher of English for General Purposes to a teacher of Business English. These teachers’ experiences and their perception of identity construction and professional development throw light on the changing pedagogy and practice of Business English in Chinese universities.

Keywords: Business English; teacher identity; professional development; critical narrative; autoethnography

About the authors

Bin Ai

Bin AI is an associate professor at the School of Foreign Studies, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. His current research interests focus on Business English, teacher development, and intercultural studies.

Lifei Wang

Lifei WANG is a professor at the School of Translation and Interpreting, Beijing Language and Culture University. His recent research focuses on Business English studies, business discourse analysis, and linguistic economics.

Alexander Kostogriz

Alexander KOSTOGRIZ is a professor at the Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia. His current research projects focus on professional practice and ethics of language teachers, teacher education, and experiences of beginning teachers.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the two Business English teachers who participated in this project. Thanks also go to Dr. Christina Houen and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive and critical comments on earlier versions of this article.

  1. Notes and limitations

    The researchers would like to salute Chinese Business English practitioners since they are brave education reformers. Their reform is creating a path for the future of English education in Chinese higher education institutions and also improving the employability of students who major in the English language. There are limitations to this study. The small number of cases representing Business English teachers limits the data for this paper, and this leaves much room for future research.

  2. Funding

    This work was supported by Shanghai University of Finance and Economics [Grant No. 2019110115], and the National Research Fund for Social Sciences [Grant No. 16BYY178].

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Appendix

A brief semi-structured interview procedure used in this project is listed in the following:

  1. Could you please introduce yourself to us? Can I have your personal information, such as your age, gender, degree, your professional and the starting time of your teaching in Business English?

  2. What difficulties have you encountered when transforming yourself from an EGP teacher to a teacher of Business English? Can you give us your examples? Have you hesitated when facing these difficulties? How did you overcome your difficulties then?

  3. Do you feel that Business English as a discipline has been recognized in the academic field? If not, why? As a teacher of Business English, do you feel that your profession and status are different from those teachers majoring in other English disciplines such as translation, literature, and linguistics?

  4. Do you think that Business English has been given adequate attention in your school or university? Have your school leaders or your university leaders ever taken any measures to push the professional development of Business English teachers? What do you hope should be done for you and other teachers of Business English?

  5. Do you and/or your colleagues have any stress when teaching a subject of Business English courses? When you and/or your colleagues are confused by professional business questions, how do you solve them?

  6. Do you feel you are competent as a teacher of Business English? If not, what is your weak point? How do you plan to become more competent?

  7. Business English is usually regarded as a discipline with strong practical requirements. How do you as a teacher handle those practical requirements?

  8. Have you ever felt regretful about choosing to work as a teacher of Business English? What are your expectations of the discipline of Business English? Do you think that the course will become a core course in the school of foreign languages?

  9. What qualities do you feel a teacher of Business English should have? Do you feel you and your colleagues are qualified to teach Business English? If not, how do you plan to help yourself to become a qualified teacher of Business English?

  10. As a teacher of Business English, do you feel that you have offered adequate assistance to your students? Do you feel that your professional knowledge is adequate or not?

Published Online: 2019-08-16
Published in Print: 2019-06-26

© 2019 FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Second Language Writing
  3. Developing Students’ Critical Thinking and Discourse Level Writing Skill Through Teachers’ Questions: A Sociocultural Approach
  4. Chinese University EFL Teachers’ and Students’ Beliefs About EFL Writing: Differences, Influences, and Pedagogical Implications
  5. Teacher Development for Business English Guest Editor: Lifei Wang
  6. Becoming a Teacher of Business English in China: A Critical Narrative
  7. An Empirical Study of Business English Teachers’ Knowledge Structures in Different Course Modules
  8. On Teachers’ Professional Qualities Structure and Development Mechanisms in the Business English Discipline
  9. Course Design and Material Evaluation
  10. Learnability of Grammatical Sequencing: A Processability Perspective of Textbook Evaluation in EFL Settings
  11. Book Review
  12. An Emerging Communicative Paradigm in Ecolinguistics
  13. 中文提要
https://doi.org/10.1515/CJAL-2019-0011
Keywords for this article
Business English; teacher identity; professional development; critical narrative; autoethnography

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Second Language Writing
  3. Developing Students’ Critical Thinking and Discourse Level Writing Skill Through Teachers’ Questions: A Sociocultural Approach
  4. Chinese University EFL Teachers’ and Students’ Beliefs About EFL Writing: Differences, Influences, and Pedagogical Implications
  5. Teacher Development for Business English Guest Editor: Lifei Wang
  6. Becoming a Teacher of Business English in China: A Critical Narrative
  7. An Empirical Study of Business English Teachers’ Knowledge Structures in Different Course Modules
  8. On Teachers’ Professional Qualities Structure and Development Mechanisms in the Business English Discipline
  9. Course Design and Material Evaluation
  10. Learnability of Grammatical Sequencing: A Processability Perspective of Textbook Evaluation in EFL Settings
  11. Book Review
  12. An Emerging Communicative Paradigm in Ecolinguistics
  13. 中文提要
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