Abstract Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is a statistical analysis technique that has been widely adopted in marketing and strategic management disciplines, yet there is a paucity of application in language education research. This study applies PLS-SEM in an investigation of undergraduate students’ learning transfer by analysing their perceptions of learned skills they find transferable in a general EAP course and the extent of transferability to interdisciplinary-organised Common Core courses. A theoretical model was proposed to examine the interrelationships of variables, namely content relevance, understanding of learning, transfer/applicability and transfer outcome. Two rounds of in-class e-survey were administered with 675 (63.2%) and 689 (64.3%) valid responses respectively. The results from the PLS-SEM reveal that there are significant relationships between the variables. This study not only can fill the research space of learning transfer in EAP in language learning, it can also model a new quantitative empirical research method which can be used to explain and predict learning transfer. Implications for future EAP research using PLS-SEM are discussed.

中文翻译：

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偏最小二乘结构方程模型（PLS-SEM）在本科生学术英语学习迁移调查中的应用

摘要 偏最小二乘结构方程模型（PLS-SEM）是一种统计分析技术，在市场营销和战略管理学科中被广泛采用，但在语言教育研究中的应用却很少。本研究将 PLS-SEM 应用于本科生学习迁移的调查中，通过分析他们对可在一般 EAP 课程中迁移的所学技能的看法以及可迁移到跨学科组织的共同核心课程的程度。提出了一个理论模型来检查变量的相互关系，即内容相关性、​​对学习的理解、迁移/适用性和迁移结果。进行了两轮课堂电子调查，分别有 675 (63.2%) 和 689 (64.3%) 个有效回复。PLS-SEM 的结果表明变量之间存在显着关系。本研究不仅可以填补语言学习中EAP学习迁移的研究空间，而且可以建模一种新的定量实证研究方法，用于解释和预测学习迁移。讨论了使用 PLS-SEM 对未来 EAP 研究的影响。