Working Towards a Proficiency Scale of Business English Writing: A Mixed-Methods Approach

1 Core Issues in Business English Education 1.1 English as a Lingua Franca for Business Communication 1.2 The Importance of Business English Writing Skill 1.3 Business English Teaching and Learning in China 1.4 Problems and Challenges of Business English Education in China 2 Assessment of Business English: The Role of Language Proficiency Scales 2.1 Language Proficiency Scales 2.1.1 Definitions 2.1.2 Origins 2.1.3 Functions 2.1.4 Impact 2.2 The CEFR and Business English Tests 2.2.1 The CEFR 2.2.2 Use of the CEFR 2.2.3 Aligning Business English Tests to the CEFR: Potential Problems 2.3 Scales of Business English Proficiency: A Critical Evaluation 2.3.1 The ELTDU Stages of Attainment Scale 2.3.2 The ALTE Framework 2.3.3 The ESU Framework 2.3.4 The International Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ISLPR) 2.3.5 The Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) 2.3.6 Discussion 3 Conceptualizing Business English Writing Proficiency 3.1 Business English in the ESP context 3.1.1 What is ESP? 3.1.2 Branches of ESP 3.1.3 Categorization of Business English 3.2 Genre as ESP Writing Competence 3.2.1 ESP Conceptualization of Writing 3.2.2 The Concept of Genre 3.2.3 Genre in Three Traditions 3.2.4 Genre in the International Business World 3.3 The Model of Genre Knowledge 3.3.1 Formal Knowledge 3.3.2 Process Knowledge 3.3.3 Rhetorical Knowledge 3.3.4 Subject-matter Knowledge 4 Working Towards a Scale of Business English Writing 4.1 General Principles of EGP Scale Development 4.1.1 Objectivity 4.1.2 Consistency 4.1.3 Localization 4.1.4 Comparability 4.2 Common Methods of Scale Construction 4.2.1 Intuitive Methods 4.2.2 Test-based Methods 4.2.3 Performance-oriented Methods 4.3 Business English Writing Scale Development: Considerations from the ESP Perspective 4.3.1 Linguistic Features of ESP 4.3.2 Pedagogical Objectives of ESP 4.3.3 ESP Assessment: Specificity and Authenticity 4.4 Developing a Scale of Business English Writing: A Mixed-Methods Approach 4.4.1 Research Design 4.4.2 Scale Development Phase 4.4.3 Scale Validation Phase 5 The Initial Establishment of a Descriptive Framework 5.1 Theoretical basis of the Business English Writing Proficiency: The Model of Genre Knowledge 5.2 Categories of Genre Knowledge from the Business English Writing Perspective 5.2.1 Operationalization of Formal Knowledge 5.2.2 Operationalization of Process Knowledge 5.2.3 Operationalization of Rhetorical Knowledge 5.2.4 Operationalization of Subject-matter Knowledge 5.3 Categories of Business English Writing Activities 5.3.1 A Review of Genres for Business Written Communication 5.3.2 Selection of Genres for Framework Incorporation 6 Creating a Descriptor Pool 6.1 Collection of Descriptors of Business English Writing Proficiency 6.1.1 Document Review 6.1.2 Teacher Workshops 6.1.3 Initial Categorization of the Descriptors 6.2 Refining Categories of the Descriptive Scheme 6.2.1 Key Issues Raised in Category Distinctiveness 6.2.2 Selection and Revision of the Scale Categories 6.3 Quality Control on the Descriptors 6.3.1 Key Issues Raised in Descriptor Formulation 6.3.2 Selection and Revision of the Scale Descriptors 7 Constructing the Scale 7.1 Eliciting Business English Learners’ Perceptions of Descriptor Categorization and Descriptor Difficulty 7.1.1 Instrument 7.1.2 Participants 7.1.3 Data Collection 7.1.4 Data Analysis Using the Rasch Model 7.2 Interpreting the Scale 7.2.1 The Item-Person Map 7.2.2 Checking Unidimensionality 7.2.3 Identifying Problematic Descriptors 7.2.4 Setting Cut-offs and Establishing Levels of Equal Intervals 7.2.5 The Establishment of a Global Scale 7.2.6 The Establishment of Illustrative Scales 8 Validation of the Business English Writing Scale 8.1 Concepts of Validity in Proficiency Scale Validation 8.1.1 Fairness Validity 8.1.2 Teaching Backwash Validity 8.1.3 Social Impact Validity 8.2 Validating the Scale 8.2.1 Qualitative Validation of the Scale Framework 8.2.2 Quantitative Validation of the Scale Framework 8.2.3 Qualitative Validation of the Scale Descriptors 8.2.4 Quantitative Validation of the Scale Descriptors 9 Conclusion 9.1 Summary of Key Findings 9.2 Contributions of the Study 10.2.1 Implications for ESP Scale Development 10.2.2 Implications for ESP Teaching, Learning and Assessment 9.3 Limitations of the Study 9.4 Areas for Future Research