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 ND out of the classroom and positive evaluation by the students. (Gorham, 1988; Richmond, Microcosm, & 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. Firmer and Salmon, 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 (Microcosm, 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 day; For example, a teacher may need to observe students from the front/ back of the classroom during a test.
The principle of immediacy is that people are drawn towards persons and things they like, evaluate highly and prefer (Meridian, 1971) therefore it is important for teachers to establish immediacy between himself and his students. However, maintaining constant immediacy within the classroom environment could be quite difficult to uphold. This might suggest that teachers use a variety of immediacy methods such as humor within his teaching sharing personal experiences that relate to learning and offering plenty of encouragement.
Key concept two- Communication style Classroom relationships are developed through interpersonal communication with students. Simmons and Cooper (2011) describes successful teachers as those who posses a well-developed repertoire of communication styles and skills. Communication style, as described by Norton (1 978), is the way an individual verbally and peripherally interacts to signal how literal meaning would be taken, interpreted, filtered or understood. Potter and Emanuel (1990) refer to three styles of communication: friendly, attentive and relaxed.
Communication style can be described as the way a teacher uses volume, pace, cadence and intonation to communicate lessons and planned experiences. Students’ feedback and response to the communication style determines whether or not the intended meaning was successfully acquired or if the teacher needs to adjust his communication style. For example, in a traditional classroom context a teacher may be introducing a new topic to his students, he may use the volume and pitch in is voice to show enthusiasm to encourage excitement in his students.
The teacher may also use previous classroom or personal experiences to relate to the new topic, the teacher may also call upon students to share their prior knowledge or experiences. According to Potter and Emanuel (1990) a successful teacher must carefully listen, speak friendly and informally, use facial expressions, be a good story teller and is well organized. It is important for teachers to consider the variety of students in the class. Some students may require more encouragement then others or a slower pace when being given instructions.
