TOWARDS HARMONIZING COMMUNICATION OUTWARDS AND WITHIN. AN ON-GOING SHIFT IN PRAGMATICS AND DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Considering the current international context, where everybody is affected by the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic and its economic, social and psychological implications, communication has been subjected to complex changes at all levels, that go far beyond what we have managed to understand so far. Nowadays, in these troubled times, obstacles in communication are the norm rather than the exception, often resulting in alienation, anxiety, depression and a deep sense of loss. Loss of what our lives used to be… Loss of the self… This is why, once the impact of this new reality has more or less settled in, we need to work towards harmonizing communication in this new world we are living in. As linguists, we are witnessing an on-going shift in pragmatics and discourse analysis, as we should acknowledge the emergence of complex verbal and non-verbal dimensions to personal and professional communication, where fear of contagion is constantly lurking in the conscious or subconscious background. Special focus should be laid on schools and the entire educational process, with electronic platforms and online teaching/learning causing additional stress to all parties involved (teachers, students, and families of both categories). We have already discovered that the lack of proper human interaction, or the diminished state we are experiencing it in, is literally impossible to replace or fully make up for. Now, we must understand that harmonizing communication must be a top priority, particularly if we need people to stay fully-functional and keep education, society and economy running.