The Interaction of Facework and Immediacy on Students’ Perceptions of Instructor Credibility

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Abstract

If instructors ignore students’ face needs while offering feedback, students’ ability to utilize that advice may be diminished and the instructor-student learning relationship damaged. This study investigated instructional use of skilled face-threat mitigation (FTM) tactics combined with teacher nonverbal immediacy (TNI) cues. Multivariate analysis detected a significant interaction effect between FTM and TNI, such that students’ perceptions of instructor competence, character, and caring were influenced in varying patterns and to different degrees across experimental conditions.

Authors

• Paul Witt, Texas Christian University

• Jeff Kerssen-Griep, Univ of Portland