This book presents an empirical study to develop and validate a proficiency scale of business English writing in the Chinese tertiary context. Through a mixture of intuitive, quantitative and qualitative methods, the book demonstrates how a pool of descriptors are collectively formulated, statistically calibrated and meticulously validated for the establishment of a proficiency scale of business English writing. The writing scale differs in significant ways from the existing language scales, most of which were constructed in English as L1 or L2 contexts and applied to English for General Purposes (EGP) domains. This book also provides important insights into the construct of business English writing as well as the methods for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) proficiency scale development and validation. It is of particular interest to those who work in the area of ESP teaching and assessment.
Autorentext
Li Wang is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at the School of Economics and Finance, Xi'an International Studies University, China. She obtained her Ph. D. degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China in 2016, and her master's degree from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2010. Her research interests include English for Specific Purposes and Language Testing and Assessment. She has published her research in both international and local journals, including Assessing Writing, The Asian EFL Journal, The Journal of Asia TEFL, and Foreign Language World.
Jason Fan is Deputy Director and Senior Research Fellow at the Language Testing Research Centre (LTRC), University of Melbourne, Australia. His research interests include validation of language assessments and research methods. He is the author of Development and Validation of Standards in Language Testing (Fudan University Press, 2018) and the co-author (with Tim McNamara and Ute Knoch) of Fairness, Justice and Language Assessment (Oxford University Press, 2019). He is on the editorial board of Language Testing and the co-editor of Papers in Language Testing and Assessment.
Inhalt
1 Core Issues in Business English Education 1.1English as a Lingua Franca for Business Communication
1.2The Importance of Business English Writing Skill
1.3Business English Teaching and Learning in China
1.4Problems and Challenges of Business English Education in China
2Assessment of Business English: The Role of Language Proficiency Scales
2.1Language Proficiency Scales
2.1.1Definitions
2.1.2Origins
2.1.3Functions
2.1.4Impact
2.2The CEFR and Business English Tests
2.2.1The CEFR
2.2.2Use of the CEFR
2.2.3Aligning Business English Tests to the CEFR: Potential Problems
2.3Scales of Business English Proficiency: A Critical Evaluation
2.3.1The ELTDU Stages of Attainment Scale
2.3.2The ALTE Framework
2.3.3The ESU Framework
2.3.4The International Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ISLPR)
2.3.5The Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB)
2.3.6Discussion3Conceptualizing Business English Writing Proficiency
3.1Business English in the ESP context
3.1.1What is ESP?
3.1.2Branches of ESP
3.1.3Categorization of Business English
3.2Genre as ESP Writing Competence
3.2.1ESP Conceptualization of Writing
3.2.2The Concept of Genre
3.2.3Genre in Three Traditions
3.2.4Genre in the International Business World
3.3The Model of Genre Knowledge 3.3.1Formal Knowledge
3.3.2Process Knowledge
3.3.3Rhetorical Knowledge
3.3.4Subject-matter Knowledge
4Working Towards a Scale of Business English Writing
4.1General Principles of EGP Scale Development
4.1.1Objectivity
4.1.2Consistency
4.1.3Localization
4.1.4Comparability
4.2Common Methods of Scale Construction
4.2.1Intuitive Methods
4.2.2Test-based Methods
4.2.3Performance-oriented Methods
4.3Business English Writing Scale Development: Considerations from the ESP Perspective
4.3.1Linguistic Features of ESP
4.3.2Pedagogical Objectives of ESP
4.3.3ESP Assessment: Specificity and Authenticity
4.4Developing a Scale of Business English Writing: A Mixed-Methods Approach
4.4.1Research Design
4.4.2Scale Development Phase
4.4.3Scale Validation Phase
5The Initial Establishment of a Descriptive Framework
5.1Theoretical basis of the Business English Writing Proficiency: The Model of Genre Knowledge
5.2Categories of Genre Knowledge from the Business English Writing Perspective
5.2.1Operationalization of Formal Knowledge
5.2.2Operationalization of Process Knowledge
5.2.3Operationalization of Rhetorical Knowledge
5.2.4Operationalization of Subject-matter Knowledge
5.3Categories of Business English Writing Activities
5.3.1A Review of Genres for Business Written Communication
5.3.2Selection of Genres for Framework Incorporation
6Creating a Descriptor Pool
6.1Collection of Descriptors of Business English Writing Proficiency
6.1.1Document Review
6.1.2Teacher Workshops
6.1.3Initial Categorization of the Descriptors6.2Refining Categories of the Descriptive Scheme
6.2.1Key Issues Raised in Category Distinctiveness
6.2.2Selection and Revision of the Scale Categories
6.3Quality Control on the Descriptors
6.3.1Key Issues Raised in Descriptor Formulation 6.3.2Selection and Revision of the Scale Descriptors
7Constructing the Scale
