Page 198 - The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand Vol.XIII-2021

The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
Volume XIII – 2021

the number of the COVID-19 pandemic victims in other countries was growing at

an exponential rate. Although it is unclear how this bat-borne disease transferred
to humans, it is undeniable that the speed, magnitude, scale, and scope of the
damage impinged upon by this pandemic is indescribable. In fact, the situation has
escalated so severely that the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared

on March 11, 2020 that COVID-19 is an infectious disease that spreads globally
(WHO, 2020).

In response to the pandemic’s current emergency, a number of measures
have been issued, and practices recommended in order to contain the pandemic.

Some of the common and global practices include mask wearing, lockdown,
quarantine, online teaching/learning, social distancing, school closure, public
gathering bans, restricted business hours, sky trains’ limited capacity, staggered
business operation hours, warning signs in public places, isolation, and hand
sanitizers. The measure of lockdown is quite interesting in illustrating how the

pandemic situation has escalated. Consequently, massive lockdowns have become
a topic of our daily life and a common scene.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having far-reaching and long-term consequences
that have never been seen before in history. This pandemic has had unavoidable

negative effects on all aspects of people’s lives, including education (El Mousadik &
Abentak, 2020), public health (Maravilla, 2021), banking (Demirgüç-Kunt, Pedraza
& Ruiz-Ortega, 2021), sports (Ergin Kartal, & Mazili Kaldan, 2021), entertainment
(Marjit & Das, 2021), transportation (Mogaji, 2020), and travel (Florey, 2020). For

example, in education, the COVID-19 impact is so severe that many measures have
been issued to implement a full online teaching and learning policy across the
entire academic paradigm and in all educational institutions in order to prevent
and control the disease’s spread. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has

compelled educators to remain engaged in the ubiquitous use of virtual learning to
maintain educational continuity (Prodanović & Gavranović, 2021). The physical
classroom traditions have been wiped out by the pandemic in the blink of an eye.
In short, the menace of the pandemic has completely altered our lives, be it the

way we live, work, or even learn. The impact has been undeniably powerful, and
the scale is beyond comprehension. However, the impact of COVID-19 on language

188 COVID-19 Impact Manifestation as Seen through the Lens of Language Use