An Investigation of Undergraduate Students’ Use of Communication Skills in Online Efl Learning

This study aimed to explore the level of, and the communication skills used among undergraduate students in an online EFL learning context, and to examine whether there would be differences according to their gender and mode of study. Quantitative method was applied. Questionnaires were distributed to 200 undergraduates of a public university in China. The communication skills inventory consists of 26 items developed based on previous studies. Factor analysis was conducted to evaluate the reliability and validity. The findings indicate that the undergraduate students have a medium level of communication skills, with the intercultural skills ranking the highest, followed by reception communication skills, and production communication skills. There is no significant difference in the usage of communication skills among undergraduates in terms of gender but there is a significant difference in terms of the mode of study. Students use more communication skills in synchronous than in asynchronous online learning