Key Concepts of Interpersonal Communication
Defining Two Key Concepts of Interpersonal Communication
Key concept one- Immediacy
According to Andersen (1979) and Mehrabian (1971) “immediacy relates to approach and avoidance behaviours and can be thought of as the perceived distance between people”. Immediacy can be verbal and or non-verbal communication that can enhance physical and psychological closeness. Findings conducted by several researchers indicate that teacher immediacy is associated with cognitive learning, affective learning, recall of information, classroom management, humor, motivation, willingness to communicate in and out of the classroom and positive evaluation by the students. (Gorham, 1988; Richmond, McCroskey, & Payne, 2007).
Therefore, Immediacy refers to the interaction between two or more persons and how that interaction affects the relationship between those people. The immediacy between a teacher and his students depends on the use of humor, the amount of encouragement, calling students by their name, smiling, eye contact, relaxed body language and facial expressions. Establishing immediacy between the teacher and student is likely to improve motivation because of the positive impact on attention, confidence and satisfaction. (Frymeir and Shulman, 1995). For example, within a classroom environment as a teacher is marking the roll of a morning, he may choose to greet each child by looking at them with a smile and greeting them good morning using the student’s name.
Although research indicates that immediacy within the classroom is a supporting factor for increased effective learning (McCroskey, 1996), realistically for a teacher to say a student’s name every time he speaks or even making eye contact with the student can be difficult and even time consuming. Distractions caused by other students or colleagues may take attention off a student whom is talking, which could result in loss of eye contact. Body language of a teacher may also vary at different times of the
Key concept one- Immediacy
According to Andersen (1979) and Mehrabian (1971) “immediacy relates to approach and avoidance behaviours and can be thought of as the perceived distance between people”. Immediacy can be verbal and or non-verbal communication that can enhance physical and psychological closeness. Findings conducted by several researchers indicate that teacher immediacy is associated with cognitive learning, affective learning, recall of information, classroom management, humor, motivation, willingness to communicate in and out of the classroom and positive evaluation by the students. (Gorham, 1988; Richmond, McCroskey, & Payne, 2007).
Therefore, Immediacy refers to the interaction between two or more persons and how that interaction affects the relationship between those people. The immediacy between a teacher and his students depends on the use of humor, the amount of encouragement, calling students by their name, smiling, eye contact, relaxed body language and facial expressions. Establishing immediacy between the teacher and student is likely to improve motivation because of the positive impact on attention, confidence and satisfaction. (Frymeir and Shulman, 1995). For example, within a classroom environment as a teacher is marking the roll of a morning, he may choose to greet each child by looking at them with a smile and greeting them good morning using the student’s name.
Although research indicates that immediacy within the classroom is a supporting factor for increased effective learning (McCroskey, 1996), realistically for a teacher to say a student’s name every time he speaks or even making eye contact with the student can be difficult and even time consuming. Distractions caused by other students or colleagues may take attention off a student whom is talking, which could result in loss of eye contact. Body language of a teacher may also vary at different times of the
References: Andersen, J. F. (1979). Teacher immediacy as a predictor of teaching effectiveness. In D. Nimmo (Ed.), Communication Yearbook, 3 (pp.543-559). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books. Frymier, A., & Shulman, G. (1995) What’s in it for me? Increasing content relevance to enhance student’s motivation. Communication Education, 41, 388-399. Gorham, J. (1988) The relationship between verbal teacher immediacy behavior and student learning. Communication Education, 37, 40-53 McCroskey, J. C., Sallinen, A., Fayer, J. M., Richmond, V. P., & Barraclough, R. A. (1996). Nonverbal immediacy and cognitive learning: A cross-cultural investigation. Communication Education, 54, 200-211. Mehrabian, A. (1971). Silent messaes. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Norton, R. W. (1978). Foundation of a communicator style construct. Human Communication Research 4,99. Potter, W., & Emanuel, R. (1990). Student’s preferences for communication stylesand their relationship to achievement. Communication Edcation,39, 234-249. Richmond, V.P., & McCroskey, J. C., & Payne, S. (2007). Nonverbal behaviour in interpersonal relations (6th edn.). Englewood Cliffs, N: Prentice Hall. Simonds, C. J., & Cooper, P. J. (2011). Communication for the classroom teacher (9th ed.). Glenview, IL: Pearson Education