Employing technology has become imperative to accelerate learning efforts and offer methods to enhance interactions between learners, and among learners and tutors. In this paper, we investigate the difficulties faced by learners in learning virtually and, specifically, in English language learning, with a focus on oral communication skills. Research questions of this study are related to the main difficulties that students face to enhance their English oral communication skills. The tools and methodologies that worked best for them for this purpose are also in focus. In the literature we present a review of pertinent studies connected with learning responses in the COVID-19 period and those specifically related to the topic of our study. The methodology used for the study was an exploratory survey research design using a questionnaire to collect the necessary data for our research. Results showed that students highlighted technical problems as some of the main challenges, as well as not feeling completely comfortable in the online learning environment due to the lack of real communication, which also had an impact in the perception of their progress. They also found group video or audio calls to be the most useful tool for communication purposes. The results of this preliminary study are relevant to educational developers and policymakers. They give an understanding of aspects to be considered to improve the efficacy of learners’ when it comes to enhancing their English communication skills, such as difficulties regarding interaction or level of satisfaction in an online learning environment.

中文翻译：

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Covid-19 大流行期间的在线学习：这种新情况如何影响学生的口语交流能力？

使用技术已成为加速学习努力的必要条件，并提供方法来增强学习者之间以及学习者和导师之间的互动。在本文中，我们调查了学习者在虚拟学习中所面临的困难，特别是在英语语言学习中，重点是口语交流技巧。本研究的研究问题与学生提高英语口语交流能力所面临的主要困难有关。为此目的最适合他们的工具和方法也是重点。在文献中，我们回顾了与 COVID-19 时期的学习反应相关的相关研究，以及与我们研究主题特别相关的研究。该研究使用的方法是探索性调查研究设计，使用问卷收集我们研究的必要数据。结果显示，学生强调技术问题是主要挑战之一，并且由于缺乏真正的交流，他们在在线学习环境中感觉不完全舒适，这也影响了他们对进步的看法。他们还发现群组视频或音频通话是最有用的交流工具。这项初步研究的结果与教育开发商和政策制定者有关。在提高学习者的英语沟通技巧时，他们会理解需要考虑的方面，以提高学习者的效率，