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In recent years, much attention has been paid to business English major, such as the studies on its disciplinary orientation, and curriculum design, However, the employment situation of graduates from English major is not very good. The English level of graduates from economics or trade majors has been improved gradually because of both the popularization of higher education in our country and the development of college public English teaching. The graduates, who not only master business knowledge and skills but also have a good command of English language, are undoubtedly the potential competitors for business English major graduates. Because of the stern employment situation, can the business English majors have a clear positioning about themselves in the learning at the undergraduate stage? Can they find a satisfactory job or can they be competent for a job? Curriculum design is the key section to answer the questions above since it is the way to achieve the teaching goals and cultivate the talents.
Needs analysis should be the basis of curriculum design. However, needs analysis did not received due attention in our country. The curriculum designers usually determine the courses that should be offered from an academic perspective. There exists a gap among the curricula determined in this way and the learners’ needs and practical needs in workplace. Therefore, this thesis will conduct the study of curriculum design based on need analysis, including the perspectives of junior and senior students from business English major.源-自-优尔:,论'文'网]www.youerw.com
2. Literature Review
2.1 The Definition of Curriculum Design
Curriculum design is a basic way to realize the objectives of professional training. The quality of curriculum is usually related with teaching quality in some degree.
The word “curriculum” in the West derives from the Latin word “currere” which means racecourse and running. There are many other different understandings of curriculum in the research field. David Nunan, defines curriculum as “one way of looking at the curriculum is to see it as an attempt to specify what should happen in the classroom，to describe what actually happens，and to attempt to reconcile the difference between what ‘should be’ and what actually ‘is’”(Nunan, 2001:12). Goodson defines curriculum as“a multifaceted concept，constructed，negotiated and renegotiated at a variety of levels and in a variety of arenas” (Goodson, 1994:111). In our country many scholars also provide some definitions of curriculum. For example, Zhang Hua defines it as a set of performance objectives，which everything is planned ahead, including the expectation of instruction and the instruction plan (Zhanghua, 2001:172).
As to curriculum design, it is a complex process which involves lots of factors. Scholars and experts show their own views on curriculum design. Nunan(1988) put forward that curriculum design can be pided into several stages as follows: the diagnosis of learner’s needs, the formulation of educational goals, the selection of teaching content and materials, teaching arrangement, classing of the students, determination of learning tasks, the methods of assessment(Guan Chunlin, 2005:37-40). Jiang Shanye gives a definite explanation and considers that curriculum design refers to the whole scope and features of courses that are arranged and offered by schools and other institutions. It refers to those courses like the workshop, self-study, experimentation and other normal teaching situation in the given time, such as in an academic year, a semester or four months (Jiang Shanye, 1991:132).
To sum up, curriculum design could be condensed as a program which consists of teaching content, time allotment and sequence of courses with the basis on some cultivating objectives. This thesis will talk about the present curriculum design based on needs analysis.