Applicability of Team-based Learning with Non-English Major First Year Chinese Students in an English-for-Academic-Purposes (EAP) Course

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses are compulsory for year one non-English major students who join international cooperative programs in Shanghai Normal University Tianhua College. Having been learning English for ten years roughly, students are not stimulated to engage in EAP taught with traditional lecture-based model. Team-based learning (TBL), a students-centered teaching and learning method originally and mainly used in the medical profession, has been trailed to improve students’ active learning in EAP courses. This research compared lecture-based and TBL sessions which are used simultaneously in one semester. A mixed methodology, including the questionnaire Team-based Learning Student Assessment Instrument and focus group interviews, is adopted to evaluate the efficiency of TBL. The questionnaire evaluates students’ accountability, preference and satisfaction with TBL. Results show that a majority of students have a positive experience with TBL and report higher accountability (89%), preference (94%) and satisfaction (99%). While most students have more preparation before class, higher engagement in classroom activities, and better knowledge retention with TBL, a few students claim that readiness assurance tests are time-consuming and they learn less in group discussion compared to instructor's lecture. What's worse, free riders make little contribution to teamwork. As an active learning strategy, TBL is demanding and challenging for students and is worth further exploration.