Integrating Content and Language in Business English Teaching in China: First Year Students’ Perceptions and Learning Experience

Abstract

Content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is a key construct in Business English teaching in universities in China today. While there is a plethora of articles on implementation in European contexts, there is limited evidence in the literature of the teaching/learning experience in other foreign language learning environments—despite its wide application in, for example, south-east Asia and China in particular. As CLIL programs have been developed in a variety of ways to meet the unique needs of learners and societal expectations, the context of teaching and learning is critical. This paper focuses on the perceptions and learning experiences of students in a first year, first semester course, Introduction to Contemporary Business, in a Chinese university. Lesson observations, questionnaires, and interviews explore the experience of learners. While most students found the course very challenging in their first semester, they met the challenge. Coping with both language and content is always a double challenge: most students found their Introduction to Contemporary Business their most difficult course, yet they perceived it as manageable and worthwhile. Students coped with the difficulty level in two main ways: either by spending much time in review and translating the textbook prior to class, or by focusing on the teacher’s PowerPoint slides after class—as they considered these were the key points and the textbook was too difficult. Suggestions for a closer integration between language and content within CLIL courses are offered, such as a case-task-based approach, a greater variety of input, and the role of content teachers in English enhancement.

Analyzing the Effects of CLIL Method in Teaching Business English Writing in China

“…In addition, students from the experimental group were more proficient in English because they learned the subject in a real business context. The findings in Table 3b were supported by Sudhoff (2010); Martyn (2018) as well as Maican (2020) which indicated that the CLIL students improved greatly not only in second language acquisition, but also performed satisfactorily in Business English letter writing because the students learned about the cultural aspects and therefore were more motivated and engaged in the class. The findings in Table 4b were in line with the findings of Dalton-Puffer (2008); Mehisto et al (2008) as well as Pengnate (2013) which showed that the overall performance of CLIL group of students were proved to be significantly better than the conventional group because the students were more proficient in English and learned the authentic expressions in a real business scenario with a sense of collaborative spirit.…”

“…It integrates writing theory with practice and develops students' writing proficiency to the levels that are required by higher-level business positions (Dong, 2016). By presentation and analysis of representative model, the CLIL method deepens students' understanding of a variety of common business documents, such as business letters, memos, minutes, company profiles, business reports, business plans, annual reports and contracts (Maican, 2020;Martyn, 2018). It gives students a grasp of pragmatic functions related to business documents and later provides training in how to write and modify corresponding files based on simulated business situations which helps to expand students' business vocabulary (Léon-Henri., 2015).…”

Sustaining Content and Language Integrated Learning in China: A Systematic Review

“…Regarding the content subjects taught in CLIL, the review displayed a high level of diversity. Common discipline areas included sociology [38,46], business [42,43,48,50,51,57], humanities [45,55], and science [40,49], while a variety of branch subjects and topics were found, such as biochemistry experiments [34], traditional Chinese medicine [36], English literature [39], law [41,58], research methodology [44], education [47], the "Belt and Road" Initiative (i.e., China's foreign policy of building economic corridors in Eurasia) [52], Chinese culture [53,59], e-government [56], and Japanese etiquettes [60]. Some studies were contextualized in a series of CLIL programs.…”

“…Almost all the reported CLIL programs were organized by higher education providers (HEPs) in China for undergraduate students. Although most studies emphasized EFL learning, the contexts were slightly different, with [34][35][36]39,41,45,[48][49][50][51][52][53][56][57][58][59] dealing with college English (CE) (i.e., a compulsory English course for undergraduates whose main course is not related to English language studies), [38,46,47,54,55] working with students specializing in English studies, [42,43] focusing on "3 + 1" programs (i.e., undergraduate programs wherein students spend 3 years studying in China and 1 year abroad at a partner institution), and [44] centering on EMI in a Chinese-American jointly established university. The research [60] was also contextualized in undergraduate studies, yet the language taught was Japanese.…”

– The Asian Conference on Education & International Development 2020 Official Conference Proceedings

“…For global companies, the use of English enables them to achieve business objectives with greater adeptness and productivity (Nickerson, 2015). For individuals, the strongest motivators for learning English include interest in travel, making overseas contacts, chance to work in international organisations, better job prospects and higher pay (Li & Moreira, 2009;Martyn, 2018).…”