1

PERCEPTIONS OF ESL STUDENTS ABOUT ONLINE

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING DURING COVID-19 IN
KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

STUDENT NAME: Maliha Masood Khan

STUDENT R. No. S020-59027
STUDY LEVEL: MPHIL
DEPARTMENT: Department of English
SUPERVISOR: Sir Nazakat Awan
CO-SUPERVISOR: Mam Rakshanda
DATE OF SUBMISSION: 17, October, 2021
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Contents
SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 3
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 4
2. BACKGROUND AND GAP ANALYSIS/PROBLEM STATEMENT .................................. 5
2.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS/HYPOTHESIS ................................................................... 7
3. OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................... 8
4. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHOD ......................................................................... 8
5. PROPOSED MODEL AND FLOW CHART DIAGRAM .................................................. 9
6. EXPECTED OUTCOMES ........................................................................................ 11
7. REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 12
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SUMMARY
The emergence of Covid-19 put a worse impact on the world economy. For the most part,
it fractured the underdeveloped countries at a large scale including Pakistan not only socially,
economically and politically but paralyzed it from the educational side as well. However, the quick
move from physical classrooms to online classes questioned certain educational inadequacies
and as a result exposed a sudden break in learning-continuity. Thus, the intended purpose of this
study will be to explore the perceptions of ESL students about Online Collaborative Learning
(OCL) during Covid-19 pandemic circumstances in Pakistan. Through this study, the components
of Online Collaborative Learning, which are perceived as most challenging by ESL students during
Covid-19 will be explored, which affected their academic engagement and achievements, with
certain effective suggestions to overcome the related issues and to provide a quality ESL learning
environment to learners in such situations. For this purpose, a cross-sectional, descriptive survey
design will be used along with a quantitative research method to collect the required data via
survey questionnaires, respectively. Furthermore, SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences)
will be used for analyzing the collected data. The findings of the study will reveal the problems
encountered by ESL students in Online Collaborative Learning environment during Covid-19, as
well as their beliefs and preferences regarding using Online Collaborative Learning as an e-
learning tool in distance learning circumstances, which will ensure efficacy of the very e-learning
approach that how it served as the sole way to alleviate students' fears by persuading them to
work together towards the common goal by interacting with peers during Covid-19 in KP,
Pakistan.
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1. Introduction
Covid-19, a novel virus has emerged as a disaster in all areas of life, which has affected
millions of individuals and posed numerous challenges to people all over the world, transforming
the biological, social, economic, traditional, conventional, political, and educational sectors
radically. Although, the scale and human impact of the Covid-19 is far greater than any war in the
human history, for what WHO and UNESCO have shared many detailed pieces of research on the
unprecedented current situation of education around the world to meet several challenges that
have arisen as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic (Bai et al. 2020). Online learning, having an
alternative term e-learning is a very popular and effective educational schema, pertaining
theoretical as well as practical aspects to facilitate learning through internet resources.
In the modern technological world, higher educational sectors are increasingly stressing
the adaptability of web-based curriculum, as well as rapidly offering online courses to meet the
expectations of students all over the world. One of the researches suggests online learning as
“the most efficient way of consuming time and internet resources” due to its efficiency as a useful
learning platform for reducing stress and anxiety among students in the prevailing Covid-19
situation (Agarwal & Kaushik, 2020).
Due to a lack of e-learning practice, inappropriate e-trainings, and limited resources to
meet the requirements of ESL students online, the abrupt shift from traditional teaching
environments to online classes posed a huge threat to both faculty members and students,
particularly in the English department because teaching English is quite different from other
academic disciplines in a way that; it requires exposure, practice and suitable direction from
qualified ESL instructors to develop English language skills in a specific time period.
In the Covid-19 pandemic scenario, virtual mode of learning emerged as a new
phenomenon, which posed a quest for learning-continuity. Not only teaching but accessing
students online was also a big challenge for teachers in the Covid-19 lockdown situation because
they were not enough trained to meet the requirements of e-learning and assess students´
academic performances online, but still they adopted alternative means to save the students
from a big loss of learning-discontinuity by self-struggle.
As, everyone aspires to be competent in the present era of science and technology by
having effective communication skills. Thus, the value of student evaluation cannot be
overstated, as it is the absolute paramount of the teaching-learning environment to keep a
record of student summative and formative evaluation throughout the academic year or at the
end of the academic year to produce effective course-learning outcomes (Prem et al. 2020).
In the light concern of current situation, Experts have adopted Online Collaborative
Learning as a medium to enable ESL students to overcome their fears and anxieties by interacting
with peers online via WhatsApp groups and other applications, in order to persuade them to
move towards a common goal through collaborative efforts and teamwork. In this way, ESL
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students can be facilitated with advanced L2 digital classroom environment, to learn different
concepts in and out of the contexts and exposed to more versatile and imaginative thoughts in
no time. Incorporating Collaborative Learning activities into online classes provide ESL students
a deeper insight of evolving trends and issues related to English language, results in improved
student’s performance.

Keywords:
Covid-19, Efficacy, ESL, Online Collaborative Learning, Perception, Pandemic

2. Background of the Study and Gap Analysis

Until now, several researches have been conducted in the pandemic situation to explore
the efficacy of e-learning from different perspectives, in order to examine the effectiveness of
online pedagogies, various learning technologies, and e-learning difficulties faced by students, in
order to facilitate learners with simple ways of learning in the context of Covid-19. Online
Collaborative Learning as a constructive digital approach is an acceptable mode of online
teaching in education all over the world, which is highly meant to increase learner´s technological
knowledge and their interest in e-learning, serving as a mediator to develop a high level of
engagement and sense of teamwork to meet the desired goals.
As the sudden outbreak of Covid-19 has shaken Pakistan's educational sectors, and the
abrupt decision of lockdown has disturbed students about their academic aspirations, raising
fears of missing semesters and learning discontinuities because face-to-face learning is being
stopped in favour of a virtual learning environment (Dhawan, 2020).
According to Bordoloi, Das and Das (2021), in developing nations like India; where there
is a distinct socio-economic divide between rich and poor, e-learning has proven to be a
significant obstacle to overcome due to budgetary constraints, a lack of resources, and lack of
modern digital education, among other factors. In such challenging territories, difficulties can be
reduced by implementing appropriate educational policies, creating capacity-building
environment, and introducing low-cost technologies to promote quality education.
Covid-19 emerged as a new opportunity for the higher education system to reflect on the
challenges and issues to get benefit from the online teaching and learning from the “new
normal”. According to Stefano (2021), the majority of students and teachers were very satisfied
with online classes because they saved money on transportation, had more opportunities to
interact with peers and teachers by staying home, and could attend classes at any time, even at
traditional universities. Thus, distance learning is the grand step towards seeking potential
advantage from the covid-19 dilemma (Cesco et al. 2021).

Muuro et al. (2021), highlighted social interaction among learners using the World Wide
Web (WWW) and other digital applications in their paper "Students Perceived Challenges in
Online Collaborative Learning Environment". According to a survey conducted in the universities
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of Nairobi, Kenya; Online Collaborative Learning in distance learning is regarded as the most
difficult learning medium for students due to their incapacity to use Online Collaborative tools
effectively. However, mastery of the English language is essential factor to develop technological
competency for a variety of objectives, particularly when engaging with individuals from all over
the world but in the traditional L2 classrooms, old teaching methods are still used, which always
make English subject, a specter to haunt the students.
Correspondingly, Hamat and Hassan (2019), explored new information through their
study that; the pandemic scenario is identified as a solution to the educational turmoil because
exposure to e-learning and online resources provided students with an ample chance to develop
self-confidence and lead them toward communicative competence. In the Covid-19 pandemic
circumstances, the majority of students utilized social media as a teaching-learning tool to
develop their communication skills and to market their talents on YouTube channels in order to
earn fame and money as well.
Alhumaid et al. (2020), investigated the “perceptions of instructors regarding online
learning as a substitute for non-formal education” in their research; for this, they utilized the
Technological Acceptance Model (ATM) as a frame work to investigate a link between
technological acceptance and e-learning. According to their findings, based on a brief sample of
30 teachers from different universities of Rawalpindi; all of the participants responded positively
towards the Covid-19 scenario, but Pakistan's inadequate infrastructure hinders the
appropriateness of the e-learning system owing to ineffective educational regulations, which in
turn made it hard for the students to accept e-learning as a necessary component of their
educational path.
During Covid-19 epidemic situation, students had to deal with different technical issues
such as choppy audio, frozen screens, and weak Internet connection, which resulted in the
transmission of strewed face expressions to the viewer. But still, Collaborative Language Learning
orientations numerically proved very effective indicator of academic-learning expectations and
the students with high tendency of collaborative learning participates actively during online
sessions, which may lead to successful course outcomes (Mustadi, Annisa & Mursidi, 2021).
Familiarity with the digital world is the dire need of modern time and online learning is a
part of it, which expresses learning experiences in a synchronic or A-synchronic
environment using multiple devices to connect with others through the internet, such as mobile
phones, laptops, I-tab, etc. Thus, to meet the needs of modern digital education, students'
horizons need to be broadened by providing online trainings to them about how to use
technology appropriately and successfully to obtain best possible results (Rehman, 2020).
Collaborative technologies offer a wide range of platforms such as laptops, computers,
mobile phones, social networking to exchange ideas and valuable information online, by keeping
in view the needs of teachers and students to meet the educational requirements. It is foremost
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that; online learning needs a bigger investment than face-to-face classes to make it properly
designed and implemented (Green, 2016).
In online classes, all participants use the sites and app at the same time, due to which
they encounter certain technological and methodological issues related to information sharing,
communication, and management. It fosters negative attitude among students about learning
online, which negatively influence their academic performance. As, EFL or ESL students will never
be able to learn English unless they have a good attitude and desire to learn it because every
student wants to learn English, but not everyone is ready to accept the virtual mode of learning
due to the fact that; each student have a unique approach to the cognitive aspect of learning and
is exposed to different stimuli, that directly impacts their attitude (Shehzad et al. 2020).
Gul, Rehman and Khan (2021), used semi-structured interviews to investigate the
perceptions of ESL students towards e-learning during Covid-19, concluding that; distance
learning during Covid-19 had made learning condition difficult for the students residing in remote
areas of Pakistan such as Swat and FATA. Accordingly, ESL students´ attitude towards e-learning
were unsatisfactory due to unawareness problems, lack of internet facilities, technical issues and
negligence of teacher´s training to meet the needs of students in e-learning environment during
Covid-19, which in turn negatively impact their time management and knowledge
comprehension ability. All of these difficulties collectively quest the potential of e-learning and
resisted a radical change in the higher educational sector of Pakistan. However, e-learning was
perceived by the teachers as a very significant pedagogical tool in ESL, reorganizing students´
knowledge and developing their higher level of thinking throughout society.
The researcher has reviewed various studies in the relevant field but this study will be
unique in that; as it will focus on the efficacy of e-learning during Covid-19 in general, with a
particular focus on ESL undergraduate students' perceptions about Online Collaborative Learning
as an e-learning platform during Covid-19 in KP, Pakistan. Further, the study will explore the
problems faced by ESL students in Online Collaborative Learning environment during Covid-19,
which influence their academic achievements, which is something not found in the previous
studies, along with the best possible suggestions to overcome the pertaining obstacles and
facilitate learning-continuity online in ESL setting during pandemic circumstances at
undergraduate level in KP, Pakistan.

2.1 Research Questions

The study aims to investigate the following research questions:
1. What are the perceptions of ESL undergraduate students about Online Collaborative Learning
during Covid-19?
2. What components of Online Collaborative Learning are perceived as most challenging by ESL
students in attaining better academic achievements during Covid-19?
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3. What are the most important needs of ESL students to meet the requirements of Online
Collaborative Learning environment during Covid-19 pandemic crisis in Pakistan?

3. Objectives
Following are the objectives of this study:
i. To explore the perceptions of ESL undergraduate students about Online Collaborative
Learning during Covid-19.
ii. To examine the components of Online Collaborative Learning, perceived as most
challenging by ESL students in attaining better academic achievements.
iii. To investigate the most important needs of ESL students to meet the requirements of
Online Collaborative Learning environment during Covid-19 pandemic crisis in Pakistan.

4. Research Design and Method

This study will use a cross-sectional study, with a descriptive survey to investigate ESL
students' perceptions about Online Collaborative Learning (OCL) during the Covid-19 pandemic
crisis in KP, Pakistan, as well as learners' perceived challenges in achieving academic excellence.
As a descriptive survey, a quantitative research method will be applied to observe the situation
carefully and to provide quantitative information about the concerned study, giving the basis to
answer the research questions. Furthermore, prior to the data collection procedure, the survey
questionnaire will be used to obtain a quick and transparent response from the participants.

4.1. Instrument of the Study

A survey questionnaire will be used as a research instrument to collect the data from a
target population. Adapted questionnaire from Butt et al. (2021), Muuro et al. (2020) and
Shehzad et al. (2020), will be used for collecting the desired data and analyzing it to get
appropriate results. The modified questionnaire will be based on 25 items; including 24 close-
ended statements and one open-ended question, covering the perception and needs of ESL
students about Online Collaborative Learning based on the prevalence study. Further, the Five
point Likert scale will be used to measure the response of targeted population towards the stated
questions.

4.2. Population and Sampling

The population for the concerned study will be the undergraduate level students of
English department, from different government colleges of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, namely Govt.
Post Graduate College Haripur, Govt. Post Graduate College for Women, Haripur, Govt. Girls
Degree College K.T.S, Govt. Post Graduate College No. 1 Abbottabad and Govt. Post Graduate
College, Mansehra. The sample of the study will be 300 undergraduates; including 150 male and
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150 female students from the above mentioned colleges. They will be asked to participate in the
proposed survey voluntarily and provide honest feedback to avoid any misperception. Purposive
sampling will be used to select the population who were actively engaged in online collaborative-
learning during lockdown.

4.3. SPSS
The collected data will be analyzed through a statistical tool called SPSS (Statistical Package
for Social Sciences) to calculate the percentage and frequency of participants´ perceptions on
each statement.

5. Proposed Model and Flow Chart Diagram

In the present study, Online Collaborative Learning theory will be used as an effective
learning model to achieve the research objectives. Online Collaborative Learning is a well-known
strategy in the online educational setup, a form of constructivist teaching which has a positive
influence on students´ academic achievement as it facilitates teachers and students with e-
learning environment when they are at home, foster their collaboration and develop knowledge-
building abilities in students. It was proposed by Linda Harasim in (2012), to promote different
levels of learners´ performance together in the form of small groups to focus on a common goal
to achieve. Harasim called it; “a new learning paradigm that promotes collaborative learning,
knowledge development, and the use of the Internet to redefine formal, non-formal, and
informal education for the Knowledge Age” (Harasim, 2017).
The approach is built on three major stages of knowledge development in a group setting:
1: Idea generating phase: The phase, in which disparate ideas are brought together on a single
platform.
2: Idea organizing phase: In this phase, through a conversation and supporting arguments,
different ideas are compared, examined and analyzed respectively.
3: Intellectual convergence phase: The phase in which intellectual synthesis, comparison,
consent, and compatibility takes place, mostly in the form of creative writing, essay, editorial and
other collaborative piece of writing.

Flow Chart Diagram

The diagram of Online Collaborative Learning, as a proposed model for this study is given
below:
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6. Expected Outcomes
The study will be highly useful for future researchers and ESL students, as it will
investigate the reconstructed views and preferences of ESL students about Online Collaborative
Learning as a significant learning platform to achieve the desired goals in ESL context during
Covid-19 virtual learning circumstances in Pakistan. Further, the challenges related to Online
Collaborative Learning would be investigated, which negatively affect students´ academic
learning and progress, which will be sorted out with the ample solutions and strategies by
engaging the students in deeper learning cycle. Highlighting the efficacy of Online Collaborative
Learning during covid-19, it will be ensured that; the very e-learning approach served as the sole
way to alleviate students' fears by persuading them to work together towards the common goal
and develop ideas and construct new knowledge by interacting with peers. Moreover, the results
will expedite the higher education system of Pakistan to offer effective online pedagogical
training-sessions, to aid the ESL teachers overcoming the shortenings in ESL setting by developing
their professional abilities to meet the digital-academic learning needs of ESL learners during and
aftermath of Covid-19 pandemic situation in Pakistan.
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7. References
Agarwal, S., & Kaushik, J. S. (2020). Student’s perception of online learning during COVID
pandemic. The Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 87(7), 554-554.
Alhumaid, K., Ali, S., Waheed, A., Zahid, E., & Habes, M. (2020). COVID-19 & e-learning:
Perceptions & attitudes of teachers towards e-learning acceptance in the developing
countries. Multicultural Education, 6(2), 100-115.
Bai, Y., Yao, L., Wei, T., Tian, F., Jin, D. Y., Chen, L., & Wang, M. (2020). Presumed asymptomatic
carrier transmission of COVID-19. Jama, 323(14), 1406-1407.
Bordoloi, R., Das, P., & Das, K. (2021). Perception towards online/blended learning at the time of
Covid-19 pandemic: an academic analytics in the Indian context. Asian Association of
Open Universities Journal.
Cesco, S., Zara, V., De Toni, A. F., Lugli, P., Betta, G., Evans, A. C., & Orzes, G. (2021). Higher
education in the first year of COVID-19: Thoughts and perspectives for the
future. International Journal of Higher Education, 10(3), 285-294.
Dhawan, S. (2020). Online learning: A panacea in the time of COVID-19 crisis. Journal of
Educational Technology Systems, 49(1), 5-22.
Green, P. (2016). How to succeed with online learning. The Wiley Handbook of Learning
Technology, 261-286.
Gul, R., Rahman, G., & khan, W. (2021). Students’ and teachers’ perceptions about e- learning of
English courses amid covid-19 pandemic. International Review of Social Sciences.
Hamat, A., & Hassan, H. A. (2019). Use of social media for informal language learning by
Malaysian university students. 3L: language, linguistics, literature®, 25(4).
Harasim, L. (2017). Learning theory and online technologies. Routledge.
Jarvis, C. I., Van Zandvoort, K., Gimma, A., Prem, K., Klepac, P., Rubin, G. J., & Edmunds, W. J.
(2020). Quantifying the impact of physical distance measures on the transmission of
COVID-19 in the UK. BMC medicine, 18(1), 1-10.
Javed, A. I., Zahoor, Z., & Saeed, S. (2020). Effect of COVID-19 and emerging trends of Higher
Education in Pakistan. Research Journal of PNQAHE, 3(2).
Mustadi, A., Annisa, F. C., & Mursidi, A. P. (2021). Blended learning innovation of social media
based active English during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ilkogretim Online, 20(2).
Muuro, M. E., Wagacha, W. P., Kihoro, J., & Oboko, R. (2014). Students’ perceived challenges in
an online collaborative learning environment: A case of higher learning institutions in
Nairobi, Kenya. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 15(6),
132-161.
Rehman, A. U. (2020). Challenges to online education in Pakistan during COVID-19 & the way
forward. AIJR Preprints, 241(1).
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Shahzad, S. K., Hussain, J., Sadaf, N., Sarwat, S., Ghani, U., & Saleem, R. (2020). Impact of virtual
teaching on ESL learners' attitudes under COVID-19 circumstances at post graduate level
in Pakistan. English Language Teaching, 13(9), 1-9.
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Appendix

Questionnaire

Statements of the items Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

Disagree Agree
1. During Online Collaborative
Learning (OCL), students are
provided with multiple
opportunities by teachers to interact
with one another.
2. Interacting with peers and
maintaining learning-continuity are
important challenges in distant
learning situations.

3. OCL better regulates team-

management, self-regulation and
active learning in ESL classroom.

4. Every student gets equal tasks and

opportunity to participate in group
discussion based on ESL context.

5. Teachers are fully trained to meet

the requirements of ESL classroom
online.

6. By interacting with teachers and

peers, students can easily resolve
their learning related issues through
OCL, by staying home.

7. There is a lack of clarity on the

posted task due to internet troubles
and distractions by inept peers.
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8. By using OCL, students’ academic

performance can be made better
during the pandemic situation.

9. Through student- teacher and peer

interaction, students can overcome
their fears and learn better in
collaborative work.

10. OCL is an effective e-learning

platform to push students towards a
common goal together.
11. Through active participation in
OCL environment, students can
develop ideas by discussion with
peers and construct new knowledge
respectively.

12. Online Collaborative Learning

(OCL) as a modern e-learning
approach is enjoyable and effective
for ESL undergraduates.

13. In OCL, teachers respond the

questions in group on time and
motivate students towards team
work.

14. There is lack of feedback from

peers.
15. Sometimes tasks and discussion
create conflicts among group
members.

16. Students are guided properly about

the collaborative learning tasks by
the teachers.
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17. Sometimes the irresponsibility of

few students negatively influences
work of the whole group.

18. OCL remained successful in

maintaining ESL student´s
retention during covid-19.

19. Group discussion is one of the

effective activities to develop new
ideas and get quick feedback from
peers.

20. ESL students believe that, through

OCL, they can achieve their goal
easily by collaborative work.

21. Cooperative learning activities

online, boost up the academic
achievement and self-esteem of
ESL learners.

22. In OCL, explanatory feedback is

provided by teachers, which aids
learning and collaborative project.

23. OCL aid learners to achieve the

learning outcomes of their ESL
courses´ syllabi.

24. Through OCL, students learn new

experiences such as, time
management and self-discipline.
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Q, 25: What suggestions would you like to give on the most important needs of ESL
undergraduate students to improve academic performance in Online Collaborative learning
during Covid-19 in Pakistan?