A Study Of The Relationship Between Teacher Nonverbal Immediacy And Student Motivation To Learn In Chinese College Classroom

This study, conducted at Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, explores the relationship between students' perceived teacher nonverbal immediacy behaviors and student motivation to learn in Chinese college classroom, and compares the differences in students' reports of teacher nonverbal immediate behaviors and student motivation to learn between the high-nonverbal-immediacy classroom condition and low-nonverbal-immediacy classroom condition. The research is firstly to give a brief literature review of teacher nonverbal immediacy and its effects on classroom teaching, student motivation to learn and the relationship between them to further understand the previous study of relationship between these two. Then, through design and analysis of the subjects, the study is also to call for Chinese college teachers' conscious awareness of the importance of teacher nonverbal immediacy behaviors and to examine how teacher nonverbal immediacy influences student motivation to learn at college level to better the understanding of the nonverbal immediacy strategies in which teachers employ in the classroom to reduce physical and psychological distance between teachers and students for the purpose of effectively, motivating students. The subjects of the study are two teachers of English and their 111 college students from three classes in Semester 2, Grade 1 at Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications. A mixed methodology of both qualitative and quantitative research is employed in the study. By the employment of qualitative research, the questionnaires, and classroom observations, students' motivation to learn and their perceptions of teacher nonverbal immediacy behaviors are investigated. While in the quantitative research, two Likert-type 5-point scale questionnaires are computed and analyzed statistically in description and relationship by SPSS 14.0 Pearson bivariate correlation.The findings of the study report that teacher nonverbal immediacy is an important factor in influencing student motivation to learn in the high/low-nonverbal-immediacy condition at college level in China and there are significant differences in students' perceived teacher nonverbal immediacy behaviors and student motivation to learn between the high-nonverbal-immediacy classroom condition and low-nonverbal- immediacy classroom condition. Thus, the results and implications would provide a new way for future study in the field of teacher nonverbal immediacy behaviors in college classrooms.