Effect of an EAP Course on Students’ Writing Performance, Anxiety and Self-Efficacy: A Latent Profile Analysis

Abstract

The present study implemented an academic English course in psychology in a Chinese university and evaluated the changes in students’ performance and perceptions of academic English. A twelve-week academic English course was designed for seventy-four psychology majors. The students completed academic English writing tasks and questionnaires before and after the course, and five focus group interviews were conducted after the course. Results show that students’ academic writing performance improved significantly (p <.001) in task fulfilment, organisation, language competence, and use of source materials. Students’ anxiety relating to academic writing reduced significantly (p <.001) after the course, while their self-efficacy did not show significant improvement. Using latent profile analysis, three types of learners were identified (fast learners, all-round high achievers, and moderate improvers), who improved essays scores and changed anxiety and self-efficacy differently. Focus group interviews identified several advantages (e.g. providing useful academic reading and writing skills for subject learning) and drawbacks (e.g. lacking in a wide range of subject-related vocabulary) of this course. The present study is one of the first collaborative action research studies with a pre-experimental design on subject-specific (psychology) EAP courses in Chinese universities and identified learner profiles through the course.