Using Corpus-Based Collocation Program to Promote Speaking Skills of College–Bound EFL Majors

Recent research on English as a foreign and second language has indicated that collocations are crucial to mastering the language. Hence, its significance in EFL learners’ speaking skills is crystal clear. Therefore, the current research has been conducted to explore the impact of using a corpus-based collocation program on developing third-year faculty of Education English majors' speaking skills. The research adopted the quasi-experimental method (a pre-post control group design). Sixty students in third-year faculty of Education English majors participated in the research that lasted eight weeks in the second semester of 2021-2022. They were assigned to a treatment group of thirty students, who received corpus-based collocation instruction in speaking for ten sessions, and a non-treatment group of thirty students who received regular method in teaching speaking. The research instruments included a pre-post speaking test and a rubric for scoring the students' speaking skills. Results of the research demonstrated that the treatment group surpassed the non-treatment group in the speaking post-test. The results of independent sample t-tests at a significant level (estimated: 0.05) revealed a statistically significant difference between students' mean scores of the treatment and non-treatment groups in the speaking post-test (in favor of the treatment group). Also, the results showed that using a corpus-based collocation program positively affected third-year faculty of Education English majors' collocational knowledge and use in their speaking skills. In the light of the research findings, recommendations and suggestions for further research were offered.