Integrating ESP, Value Education, and AI-Enhanced Pedagogy in Chinese Vocational Colleges: A Theoretical Construction of the “Three-Chains, Four-Dimensions, Five-Contexts” Teaching Model for Workplace Communication English Course

Abstract

The increasing demand for workplace-oriented English proficiency, value education, and technological integration has posed new challenges for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) curricula in Chinese vocational colleges. Addressing the need to meaningfully integrate Curriculum Ideological and Political Education (CIPE) into professional English instruction, this conceptual paper proposes a theoretically grounded “Three-Chains, Four-Dimensions, Five-Contexts” teaching model for the Workplace Communication English Course. Drawing on ESP theory, sociocultural learning, moral education, and AI-enhanced pedagogy, the model conceptualizes learning as a developmental process that links linguistic knowledge acquisition, situated workplace practice, and professional identity formation. It further integrates knowledge, values, skills, and application within authentic communicative tasks, supported by AI-mediated interaction and multidimensional assessment. By embedding value formation within workplace communication rather than treating it as an external addition, the model addresses critiques of superficial CIPE implementation in ESP. This study contributes a coherent conceptual framework for vocational English curriculum design and offers directions for future empirical research and pedagogical innovation.