Dialogic aspiration co-occurs with communicative EAP preference: a large-sample student survey with measurement invariance and construct distinctiveness testing

English for academic purposes (EAP) practitioners routinely identify student instructional preferences but rarely examine which perceptual dimensions of the learning context are most closely associated with those preferences—information that could inform both needs analysis design and curriculum planning. This cross-sectional survey study addressed that question in a well-powered student sample ( n = 354) from multiple university EAP programmes, with exploratory role comparisons in a pilot teacher sample ( n = 30). Three perception subscales were analysed: perceived educational rights (RightNeed), perceived power dynamics (Power), and aspiration for dialogue and co-construction (DialogHope). Among these, DialogHope showed the most consistent independent concurrent association with communicative EAP preference [CEAP; =0.555, cluster-robust standard error (SE) =0 .105, <0.001, unique R 2 = 8.8%], whereas Power perception showed no unique concurrent association after controlling for the other two subscales (= −0.094, ns). The finding that power perception is independent of communicative preference, once the other perceptual dimensions are controlled, is particularly noteworthy. It suggests that the aspect of perception most specifically associated with communicative EAP preference is dialogic in character rather than power-oriented. Construct distinctiveness testing confirmed that DialogHope and CEAP are statistically distinct constructs [two-factor CFA preferred, Δχ 2 (1) = 68.66, p < 0.001], with a high but subunity latent correlation ( φ = 0.778), indicating closely related yet separable dimensions. Prespecified measurement invariance testing supported qualified group comparisons for all three subscales. Analysis pipeline: https://github.com/salisadegh/eap-study .