The Effect of Online Collaborative Learning on Developing English Majors’ Speaking Skills and Social Presence

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of online collaborative learning on developing English majors’ speaking skills and social presence. The study employed the one-group pretest-posttest quasi – experimental design. The participants were 25 first year English department basic education students at Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University. The instruments of the study included an EFL speaking skill checklist, a pre-post speaking test, an English-speaking anxiety scale and a social presence scale. The pre/post speaking test and the English -speaking anxiety scale were pre administered to the study group. Then, the study group was trained through the program based on online collaborative learning to develop their EFL speaking skills (accuracy, fluency, vocabulary, structure, and interaction) and social presence (human contact & social interaction, a sense of support and a sense of comfort) in the online learning environment. The instruments of the study (the speaking test, English-speaking anxiety scale, and social presence scale) were post administered to the study group. Findings of the study revealed that the program based on online collaborative learning proved to be statistically effective in developing EFL speaking skills, and social presence as well as reducing English-speaking anxiety levels for the study group.