Learning Business English in China

This book analyses the learning experiences of students of Business English at a Chinese university. It addresses several topical issues in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) education and Business English teaching, including how ESP students learn, how they develop multiple identities. In particular, it focuses on their professional identity in the classroom, and how these identities are transferred to the workplace. This allows the author to present a model of learning Business English that corresponds to the lived experiences of students in China, but which can also be applied to other ESP learner contexts. In doing so, he demonstrates how to research the professional identity of ESP learners from multiple perspectives, and contributes to the validity of research on language learning and learner identity. This book will appeal to scholars of English for Specific Purposes, Second Language Acquisition, and TESOL Education.

“Learning Business English in China may be considered as an outstanding book to instructors and researchers of both ESP and Business English, but it can also be suitable for other kinds of readers, especially when having in mind the increasing popularity of Business English programmes around the world. Additionally, from a methodological viewpoint, this book provides excellent materials on how to study the professional identity of ESP and Business English students from multiple perspectives.” (Álvaro Subero-Saenz, ESP Today, Vol. 7 (1), 2019)“Learning Business English in China: The Construction of Professional Identity by Zuocheng Zhang provides a much-needed contribution to teaching and researching L2 writing in Business English, shedding light upon the complexity of acquiring L2 writing skills in business contexts … . Instructors, researchers, students and practitioners in Business English and L2 writing may all benefit from the pedagogical and academic implications drawn from the study.” (Xingsong Shi and Xia Cheng, Journal of Second language Writing, July, 2018)“Zhang’s investigation is impressive in both its scope and detail. … this book will greatly appeal not only to teachers and researchers of ESP and business English, but also to those teaching or studying other business languages than English, as well as to scholars of second language acquisition.” (Brigitte Planken, English for Specific Purposes, Vol. 50, 2018)

Zuocheng Zhang is Senior Lecturer in TESOL Education at the University of New England, Australia. His publications include monographs and textbooks on Business English and business discourse.