The COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on the Anglo-American Education Terminology

Abstract

The given paper reports on a study of the Anglo-American education terminology specifics in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is demonstrated that the coronavirus pandemic has changed the global education system. In order to reduce the spread of COVID-19, most countries around the world have decided to temporarily close educational institutions. Nevertheless, learning has not stopped but is now fully taking place online as schools and universities provide remote schooling. The author analyses the peculiarities of the Anglo-American education terminology in the context of the coronavirus pandemic that has caused the emergence of new education terminological units and reconsidering the meaning and / or usage peculiarities of the existing ones. It is demonstrated that language, in particular the English language, is changing as the society settles into “a new normal”. The paper draws on medical determinologized units that have been widely distributed in the media discourse. It is shown that due to the coronavirus pandemic modern education is being characterized by developing and perfecting new teaching methods, strategies and tools. Moreover, corresponding terminology, in particular Anglo-American education terminology, is being changed, specified and updated. The inconsistent use of terminology is compounded by some education terminological units being confused with long-established instructional design approaches (for example, blended learning / hybrid learning). However, it is shown in the paper that as a hybrid model of online and in-person education blended learning is used even more frequently as schools reopen in a phased way. Special focus is given to the term “remote learning” that became widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic period in the context of school and university closures and remote learning worldwide. The author gives definitions of this term from different lexicographic resources and examines it from the point of view of semantic and lexical variation. The study of the specifics of the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the Anglo-American education terminology contributes to a fuller understanding of the influence of the coronavirus not only on the education system but also on the terminology of the corresponding sphere. The observations made in the given article may be useful for the further study of the education terminology in the context of the new normal.