The Effects of Online Production-Oriented Approach (POA) on Chinese Undergraduates’ English Speaking Competence Development During COVID-19 Pandemic Era

Abstract

—The Covid-19 pandemic has expedited Online Teaching and Learning (OTL) following a sudden closure of academic institutions. Although within the past years, POA was fully developed and expanded in various projects that yielded fruitful college English learning results (Matsuda, 2017), recently, in the learning and practice of Oral English by Chinese undergraduates, there are distinct drawbacks and issues affecting language learning. This paper attempts to apply POA to Chinese undergraduates' oral English classes based on OTL during the covid-19 pandemic, specifically focusing on whether POA can increase the effectiveness of oral English learning for undergraduates. Data analysis of both the pre and post-tests revealed significant improvement in the experimental class and minimal improvement in the controlled class. Students' pronunciation, vocabulary, and fluency improved in the experimental group. It is implied that the POA application was effective in enhancing Chinese undergraduates' speaking skills. Some suggestions are put forth to enhance the application of online POA during the covid-19 pandemic era.