Communication Immediacy: Behaviors and Perception in a Thai Instructional Context
Keywords:
immediacy, instructional communication, perceived immediacyAbstract
Teachers’ communication immediacy arguably fosters and maintains positive relationships between teachers and students. Recognizing that not all communicative behaviors are universally consistent or understood, this study aimed to investigate instructors’ immediacy behaviors and students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of those behaviors in inducing their perceived immediacy in a Thai university. The participants were 234 undergraduate students and two instructors. The collection of research data employed direct observation, questionnaires, and focus group interviews. The findings showed the engagement in various immediacy behaviors of the teachers at different levels of frequency. Students perceived the effectiveness of their teachers’ immediacy behaviors in inducing their perceived immediacy which resulted in reducing interpersonal distance between teachers and students. Cultural influences, in addition to the implication of the findings, were discussed.
References
Andersen, P. A. (2008). Positions of power: Status and dominance in organizational communication. In L. K. Guerrero & M. L. Hecht (Eds.), The nonverbal communication reader (3rd ed., pp. 350-467). Waveland Press.
Andersen, P. A. (2012). The basis of cultural differences in nonverbal communication. In L. A. Samovar, R. E. Porter & E. R. McDaniel (Eds.), Intercultural communication: A reader (pp. 293-312). Cengage Learning.
Barahona Guerrero, A. N. (2017). Exploring the Relationship between Immediacy Behaviors and Student Motivation in Engineering Classrooms: Immediacy as a Cause of Motivation [Unpublished master’s thesis, South Dakota State University].
Chen, G.-M., & Starosta, W. J. (2005). Foundations of intercultural communication. University Press of America.
Christensen, L. J., & Menzel, K. E. (1998). The linear relationship between student reports of teacher immediacy behaviors and perceptions of state motivation, and of cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning. Communication Education, 47(1), 82-90. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634529809379112
Clarke, V., & Braun, V. (2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. SAGE Publications.
Cutrone, P. (2005). A case study examining backchannels in conversations between Japanese-British dyads. Multilingual, 24, 237-274.
D’souza, J. B. (2018). The influence of teachers’ immediacy behaviors in relation to students’ perceptions and evaluations in Thailand. In Azevedo, A. & Mesquita, A. (Eds.), ICGR 2018 International Conference on Gender Research (pp. 120- 127). Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited.
Ellis, K. (2004). The impact of perceived teacher confirmation on receiver apprehension, motivation, and learning. Communication Education, 53, 1-1. https://doi.org/10.1080/0363452032000135742
Frymier, A. B., & Houser, M. (2000). The teacher‐student relationship as an interpersonal relationship. Communication Education, 49, 207-219. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634520009379209
Furlich, S. A. (2014). Exploring instructor verbal immediacy behaviors and student motivation with institution type through self-determination theory. Kentucky Journal of Communication, 33(1), 52-64.
Gorham, J. (1988). The relationship between verbal teacher immediacy behaviors and student learning. Communication Education, 37(1), 40-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634528809378702
Gudykunst, W. B., & Kim, Y. Y. (1992). Communicating with strangers: An approach to intercultural communication. McGraw-Hill.
Gurrero, L. K., Andersen, P. A., & Afifi, W. A. (2013). Close encounters: Communication in relationships (4th ed.). SAGE Publications. Hall, E. T. (1966). The hidden dimension. Garden City.
Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond culture. Anchor.
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture's consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations. SAGE Publications.
Hsu, L. (2010). The impact of perceived teachers’ nonverbal immediacy on students’ motivation for learning English. Asian EFL Journal, 12(4), 188-204.
Jenvdhanaken, B., & Rangponsumrit, N. (2020). Intercultural communication in the Spanish language classroom in Thailand: Differences in power distance, Individualism and Expressiveness. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 20(3), 17-30.
Kelly, S. (2012). Examining the role of perceived immediacy as a mediator: Revisiting the relationships among immediate behaviors, liking, and disclosure [Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Tennessee].
Kelly, S., Rice, C., Wyatt, B., Ducking, J., & Denton, Z. (2015). Teacher immediacy and decreased student quantitative reasoning anxiety: The mediating effect of perception. Communication Education, 64(2), 171-186. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2015.1014383
McCroskey, J. C. (1994). Assessment of affect toward communication and affect toward instruction in communication. In Morreale, S. & Brooks, M. (Eds.), 1994 SCA Summer Conference Proceedings and Prepared Remarks: Assessing College Student Competence in Speech Communication (pp. 56-68). Speech Communication Association.
Mehrabian, A. (1966). Immediacy: An indicator of attitudes in linguistic communication. Journal of Personality, 34(1), 26-34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1966.tb01696
Mehrabian, A. (1971). Silent messages. Wadsworth. Millette, D. M., & Gorham, J. (2002). Teacher behavior and student motivation. In J. L. Chesebro & J. C. McCroskey (Eds.), Communication for teachers (pp. 141-153). Allyn and Bacon.
Moore, A., Masterson, J. T., Christophel, D. M., & Shea, K. A. (1996). College teacher immediacy and student ratings of instruction. Communication Education, 45(1), 29-39. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634529609379030
Phondee, P., Sumalee, S., & Koolsriroj, U. (2022). The study of teacher immediacy behaviors and its impact on students’ attitude in English as a foreign language (EFL) secondary class. Journal of Educational Review Faculty of Education in MCU, 9(2), 210-220.
Pribyl, C. B., Sakamoto, M., & Keaten, J. A. (2004). The relationship between nonverbal immediacy, student motivation, and perceived cognitive learning among Japanese college students 1. The Japanese Psychological Research, 46(2), 73-85.
Pustejovsky, J. E., & Swan, D. M. (2015). Four methods for analyzing partial interval recording data, with application to single-case research. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 50(3), 365-380. https://doi.org/10.1080/00273171.2015.1014879
Richmond, V. P., Hosek, A. M., & Houser, M. L. (2018). Immediacy and the teacherstudent relationship. In A. M. Hosek & M. L. Houser (Eds.), Handbook of instructional communication: Rhetorical and relational perspectives (2nd ed.). 97-111. Routledge.
Richmond, V. P., & McCroskey, J. C. (1992). Power in the classroom: Communication, control, and concern. Routledge.
Richmond, V. P., McCroskey, J. C., & Johnson, A. D. (2003). Development of the nonverbal immediacy scale (NIS): Measures of self-and other-perceived nonverbal immediacy. Communication Quarterly, 51(4), 504-517. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463370309370170
Samovar, L. A., Porter, R. E., McDaniel, E. R., & Roy, C. S. (2014). Intercultural communication: A reader. Cengage learning.
Velez, J., & Cano, J. (2008). The relationship between teacher immediacy and student motivation. Journal of Agricultural Education, 49(3), 76-86. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2008.03076
Witt, P. L., Wheeless, L. R., & Allen, M. (2004). A meta‐analytical review of the relationship between teacher immediacy and student learning. Communication Monographs, 71(2), 184-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/036452042000228054
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
By submitting a manuscript, the author transfers the copyright for the article to School of Language and Communication, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication. Though the journal is an open-access, reproduction of any material published in NIDA Journal of Language and Communication for non-personal and/or commercial purpose requires a written permission from School of Language and Communication, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA).
