An Investigation of EAP Students’ Goal-Orientedness and Goal-Setting Skills

The trend of online and hybrid EAP teaching has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it requires students to take more charge of their study. Goal setting is the initial step to plan independent language learning and it affects students’ performance positively. Despite the importance of goal setting, there is limited research identifying the training needs of goal-setting skills of EAP students at EMI universities. This paper aims to investigate EAP students’ goal-orientedness and goal-setting skills in independent language learning at a Sino-British joint-venture university and to propose strategies for goal-setting instruction. A total of 90 Year 1 EAP students set English learning goals to attain within a year. These goals were analysed using the SMART model, focusing on the first four criteria: specific, measurable, attainable, and relevant. Participants’ effectiveness in goal setting was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale. In order to better evaluate students’ awareness of goals and understand their goal-setting process, five focus group interviews were conducted among 16 participants. The research findings reveal that EAP students have a high level of goal-orientedness and possess basic goal-setting skills. However, students need more training to learn how to set specific and measurable goals and make connections between goals, study materials and study methods in independent language learning. Relevant training techniques are discussed in the paper to foster EAP students’ goal-setting skills.