Chinese university EFL learners’ English for General Academic Purposes: relationships between target needs and self-efficacy

Abstract

To prepare university students for better participation in global academic activities and address learners’ needs for greater proficiency in academic English, English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP) courses are provided in many Chinese universities. This study investigates the characteristics of and relationships between university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ target needs and self-efficacy in China’s EGAP context. With a sample of 1340 EFL learners from four Chinese universities, the results indicated high levels of target needs but low levels of self-efficacy of EGAP among the Chinese university EFL learners. Students at a research-oriented university demonstrated higher levels of target needs and self-efficacy than their counterparts at teaching-oriented universities. Medical students demonstrated higher levels of lacks and wants than students in other majors. Structural equation modelling analysis showed positive relationships between Chinese learners’ necessities and self-efficacy in EGAP. Learners’ lacks had significantly negative relationships with self-efficacy, while their wants had inconsistent relationships with the five dimensions of self-efficacy. The findings deepen our understanding of learners’ target needs and have implications for enhancing learners’ self-efficacy in the EGAP context.