Exploring Linguistic Consciousness of University Students in the Wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic through Comparative Ukrainian-Turkish-Spanish Context

The purpose of the study is to investigate how Ukrainian, Spanish, and Turkish university students perceive the "coronavirus" concept and its relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, exploring potential cultural, social, or educational influences through psycholinguistic perspective. Research methods and techniques. The method of free association test is used as a research tool, as well as methods of semantic analysis, comparison, interpretation, and elements of quantitative calculation. As stimulus words, 3 commonly used terms related to the description of the Covid-19 pandemic and having the highest frequency of occurrence in the Google search engine are selected. Results. The data reveal both shared and unique impacts of the pandemic, affecting mental health, online learning, and crisis responses across the three countries. However, three significant cross-cultural differences emerge. Firstly, lexical variations are evident, with "coronavirus" more prevalent in Ukrainian responses, "pandemic" in Turkish, and fewer pandemic-related terms used by Spanish participants. Secondly, Turkish respondents display notable adherence to official guidelines and trust in public health institutions. Thirdly, distinct associations within each group reflect specific concerns or cultural references, highlighting diverse pandemic perceptions shaped by socio-cultural priorities, nuances, and media influences. Conclusions. During the Covid-19 onset, Turkey, Ukraine, and Spain faced a widening Digital Divide, affecting students' online access. Analyzing students' experiences across these nations revealed commonalities and unique disparities. All three swiftly shifted to online learning amid lockdowns, posing challenges. The pandemic notably impacted mental well-being, causing widespread stress due to uncertainties and social isolation. Distinct associations in each group reflected specific concerns or cultural references, highlighting diverse pandemic perceptions. These variations likely stem from socio-cultural priorities, nuances, and media influences. The data also hinted at lifestyle transformations due to the pandemic, emphasizing its societal impact in daily life and education. The study of students' language consciousness using the methods of psycholinguistics and semantic analysis during the coronavirus pandemic stimulates a new interdisciplinary field in linguistic research – sociopsycholinguistics – where the influence of social and situational context on language is decisive. Also it is possible to speak about the development of two more directions in sociopsycholinguistics – cross-cultural psycholinguistics concerning the manifestations of linguistic consciousness through cultures and psycholinguistics of extreme situations with the object presenting the language and speech used by a person in extreme situations, and its subject covering the process of creating and perceiving language signs in the minds of their speakers through different cultures.