COVID-19 and Social Distancing: Impact on Communication, Learnability and Mental Health

Background: The new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the methods and assumptions underlying most fundamental basic human communication. The new definition of ‘social distance’ calls for a reexamination of social, psychological and interactional rules of engagement both in terms of interpersonal and intercultural communication. Factors related to ‘fear’ and ‘anxiety’ have reshaped the non-verbal and verbal rules of phatic communication. Objectives: The aim of this paper is three-fold: (1) to explore the two-dimensional conception of ‘social distancing’ in formal and functional terms and to examine the causes which underlay the emergence of new lexicon and the novel ways of communication impacting phatic and constative communication; (2) to study how masks and media transmit critical messages and construct new social identities; (3) to investigate the educational challenges of remote teaching to educate our young. Interwoven through our discussion of the three areas above will be an examination of the implications of COVID-19- related deprivation of sensory experience and social interaction and the effects of the resulting social isolation on human behavior and the human brain. Methods: This paper reviews relevant literature in linguistics and social sciences, advertising, technology and education to examine the impact of COVID-19 on (1) personal/interpersonal space, (2) communication through digital and other media, and (3) educational assumptions and practice. Observational data are also included. Findings/Conclusions: Most languages of the world are struggling to fill a lexical gap to capture the denotative and connotative meaning and content associated with and lost as a result of social distancing and social isolation. Masks and media play a new role in conveying the message of COVID-19. The digital media (virtual media) has taken precedence over face-to-face communication. This shift in communication preference has serious ramifications in the arenas of social interaction and education.