Pragmatic Elements in Educational Communication at University During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The situation with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 has changed our way of communication. This phenomenon has also been radically reflected in the education and communication processes at universities. This paper deals with communication between students and academics at the Faculty of Education, University of West Bohemia during this time. The objective of the research was to confirm the hypothesis that certain conversational components are not being realized in the online educational process. The research was also based on the fact that especially pragmatic elements of communication are often directly associated with nonverbal aspect of language; however, due to its nature, this feature is frequently missing in online education. The main goal of this research is to investigate the effects of online education in this area of communication and describe the problem as perceived by academics and students. The results of the research show first of all that pragmatic elements of communication were indeed absent; secondly, they indicate the importance of nonverbal components in educational processes, which is likewise in accordance with the hypothesis. The interconnection between this issue and the chosen teaching and learning method (e. g. specific digital tools) seems clear. To sum up, this study demonstrates the complications of online education regarding missing elements of (not only) nonverbal communication. Thus, the importance of selecting the appropriate digital tool for education is evident.