Suggestions on College Business English

Su YingLi Jian qingJiang Ting

【Abstract】This paper mainly studies the IELTS， TOEFL IBT and Stanford English evaluation mechanisms， and their enlightenment to the Business English competence evaluation mechanism for business English students in colleges and universities. IELTS and TOEFL are stepping stones for foreign students to study in the UK and the US. Stanford software is a favorite English evaluation application for training institutions. The first two gold medal examinations and Stanford English software， which is operated on the computer， have some enlightenment to evaluation mechanisms for undergraduate business English.

【Key words】IELTS; TOEFL; Stanford; Business English; English Evaluation; Business English

【作者簡介】Su Ying， Professional Head of International Business （Sino-Australian Cooperation） of Shandong Institute of Commerce and Technology; Li Jianqing， CPC Secretary of School of Business Administration， Shandong Institute of Commerce and Technology; Jiang Ting， teacher of Shandong Institute of Commerce and Technology.

As the economy goes global and education becomes international， English examination mechanisms are becoming diversified. This paper mainly discusses IELTS， TOEFL IBT and Stanford software， which are the three major English evaluation systems， and their enlightenment to the evaluation of undergraduate business English.

1. IELTS

As we all know， IELTS and TOEFL IBT are stepping stones for students to study abroad. To study in English-speaking countries such as the UK and the US， a student must first pass IELTS or TOEFL before he can get an offer from his favorite college. IELTS， short for the International English Language Testing System， is one of the well-known international standardized English proficiency tests. Started in 1989， IELTS is jointly managed by the British Council， the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate and the Australian International Development Program （IDP）.

IELTS is an exam that advocates practical English. It examines English proficiency in a way close to life， including self-introduction， food， business， transportation， tourism， hobbies， education and so on. It is comprehensive and practical. IELTS test is conducted in a combination of written test and oral test. The written part includes reading， listening and writing. Writing has two tasks： describing a business graph and writing an argument. You have to complete the two tasks in an hour. When students study in the UK， the US or Australia， they often encounter English report writing in their professional courses， so once they have mastered the content of IELTS writing， they will get twice the result with half the effort in the process of studying abroad. In IELTS oral test， you will talk one-to-one with the examiner， who comes from English native countries such as the UK， the US， and Australia. The content of the one-to-one oral test is practical and close to life. It consists of self-introduction and opinions on current hot topics. The preparations made for the oral test will be useful for studying abroad， communicating with people， and talking with teachers in class. IELTS is comprehensive and practical.

2. TOEFL IBT

TOEFL， which comes from the US， is an English proficiency test sponsored by the Educational Testing Service （ETS）. Its full name is the Test of English as a Foreign Language.

Compared with IELTS， the TOEFL IBT test covers a wide range of vocabulary， and examines many professional words， such as business， science， medicine， psychology and so on. Therefore， the TOEFL IBT test requires the takers to have a wide range of knowledge and master professional vocabulary. In addition， TOEFL IBT has a high requirement for English listening. In the oral and writing parts， it is a prerequisite to hear the topic clearly. While in the listening and writing parts of IELTS， the requirements are all written on the paper， and the test takers can read them. Therefore， TOEFL IBT has some stringent requirements on English listening for the takers. TOEFL emphasizes academic and professional vocabulary in all skills tests of listening， speaking， reading and writing. So， students who have taken the TOEFL test would be somewhat familiar with professional vocabulary when they go to study in the UK. However， in general， compared with IELTS， TOEFL IBT is more rigorous in examining students， but less practical.

3. Stanford English evaluation mechanism 

Stanford software was created in 2003， which is used to evaluate students English level. Stanford software has been used in Chinas national oral contests， vocational colleges and English training institutions. Compared with other training institutions， the training institutions using Stanford English software will set up small classes with foreign teachers， provide one-to-one courses， Stanford English software evaluation and some party-based training sessions， which offer rich content and are popular with the trainees.

Stanford software mainly examines business English and workplace English. Using Stanford software， students wear headphones and microphones to operate on the computer for English proficiency test. The test takes from half an hour to an hour. Immediately after the test， the computer gives the result. In addition to reading and writing， it also contains listening and speaking. The Stanford oral English test does not require manual work， the computer will give objective evaluations. Therefore， the students may use the software repeatedly. While taking the test， the students can hear the pronunciation of native English speakers in the software. They can also see and hear standard English expressions. While having their English proficiency tested， they can practice English repeatedly and become familiar with English so as to improve their proficiency.

4. Enlightenment of the Three Evaluation Mechanisms to College English Teaching and Examination

As we know， the current undergraduate Business English test is mainly done on papers in a collective manner. Although this saves time and effort， it is not conducive to teaching students in accordance with their aptitude and based on their differences in learning habits and their listening， speaking， reading and writing abilities. To understand the students English learning performance， first of all， we should have a comprehensive evaluation of their English proficiency. Therefore， based on the above three representative evaluation systems， we give the following three suggestions.

i. One-to-one oral test

We should introduce one-to-one oral English test， and it is better if the examiner is a native English speaker， but a college usually has a limited number of foreign teachers. Such a huge workload of one-to-one oral English test is not realistic for a college with a large number of students. So， the examiner does not need to be a foreigner， a Chinese teacher of English would do. The one-to-one oral test will help the teachers understand the students oral English level and their ability to use the English language. In the future， the teachers will be more targeted and teach students in accordance with their aptitude.

ii. Using English Apps as an evaluation resource

English software can be used appropriately for evaluation. There are many apps or online learning software on the market， such as “Speaking English Fluently”. Many of them are of good quality. Mobile apps are easy to use and carry， and can be used repeatedly for reading and testing. The languages in some apps are up-to-date and in line with the development of the times. With the development of the country and the increased importance of English， it is very important for English expressions and phrases to keep pace with the changes of the times. With the emergence of online open courses， the online tests of online open courses such as MOOC are also a good choice.

iii. Including the original IELTS tests into the evaluation

Some original IELTS test content may be incorporated into the evaluation， on the one hand， this will make the tests more practical， the students can accumulate and practice in a more practical and close-to-life way in the process of preparing for the exam， which is conducive to their communication with foreign people， making the test more pragmatic. On the other hand， more and more undergraduate students apply to study abroad. IELTS is the choice of most students who apply for further study in English-speaking countries. If colleges add IELTS to their daily business English curriculum， it will be good news for most students who are going abroad to study.

Nowadays， “Internet +” is pushing the reform of undergraduate curriculum in full swing， and business English will contribute to the training of new generation of globalized workplace newcomers through curriculum reform.

References：

[1]Su Ying， The Cultivation of Students Creative Thinking in College English Classroom Based on Task-based Approach-on Task-based Language Teaching[J]. Contemporary Educational Science， Issue，21，2014.

[2]Ning Bo， the “Internet +” Era and the Optimization Path of Business English Teaching in Applied Undergraduate Colleges[J].Overseas English， Issue，14，2018.

[3]Su Ying， Exploration of Business English Teaching Reform[J].Campus English， April，2019.