ABSTRACT
Effective verbal communication in the English language poses many challenges for Malaysian students. As English is not their first language, the average Malaysian finds it difficult to attain the required speaking proficiency. COVID has only exacerbated this problem. Moving from a traditional classroom setting to an online one limits cohesive and effective verbal communication between the spreader and listener (s). Both students and teachers had to switch from traditional classroom instruction to online classroom instruction with various devices and technologies as their main means of communication. As a result, this study provides a systematic review of pertinent existing research into Investigating Speaking Challenges among English Language Learners (ESL) in Online Classrooms. We concentrated on 51 articles from the year 2006 to the year 2021, from a few databases. Google Scholar, L1 - https://media.proquest.com/media/hms/PFT/1/iT9BN?_a=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&_s=SfsIJYuCrgMB5UVgq5tFHz5FTUY%3D ERIC, Microsoft Academic, and ResearchGate were referred to. The review begins with a search and scanning of suitable articles related to this study before selection. Most of these articles disclosed speaking challenges and provided positive solutions to overcome them during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both students and teachers dealt effectively with psychological issues such as shyness, lack of confidence, and anxiety, as well as technological aspects. Overall, this review gave some insights into the difficulties that ESL students have when they speak, as well as many ways to deal with them when learning online.