The predicting role of EFL teachers’ immediacy behaviors in students’ willingness to communicate and academic engagement

BMC Psychology

Research

Li Hu¹  Yongliang Wang² 

[1] School of Foreign Languages, Chaohu University, No.1 Bantang Road, Chaohu Economic Development Zone, 238024, Hefei, Anhui, China;School of Foreign Languages, Nanjing Normal University, No.1 Wenyuan Road, Qixia District, 210046, Nanjing, China;

关键词: EFL teacher;    Willingness to communicate (WTC);    Teacher immediacy behaviors;    Student academic engagement;    SEM analysis;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40359-023-01378-x

 received in 2023-07-01, accepted in 2023-10-05,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundTeacher-student interactions and proximity have been shown influential in second/foreign (L2) education. However, the role of L2 teachers’ immediacy behaviors on students’ willingness to communicate (WTC) and academic engagement remains relatively unexamined in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL).PurposeThis study intended to examine the association among EFL teachers’ immediacy behaviors and students’ WTC and engagement.MethodsIn this quantitative study, three online questionnaires were completed by 400 Chinese EFL students in different universities out of which 364 were valid.ResultsThe results of statistical analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that teachers’ immediacy behaviors (verbal, nonverbal) had a highly significant influence on EFL students’ WTC (ß=0.89, p = .000) and academic engagement (ß=0.71, p = .000). It was also revealed that teachers’ immediacy could predict 89% and 71% of variances in students’ WTC academic engagement, respectively.ConclusionsBased on the results, I could be concluded that EFL teachers’ interpersonal communication abilities (e.g., immediacy) foster the establishment and growth of other positive outcomes among learners.ImplicationsThe study presents some conclusions and practical implications for EFL teachers, materials developers, and trainers to integrate the nonverbal cues of L2 communication into their practices. Such practices have the potential to enhance students’ willingness to communicate (WTC) and improve academic engagement.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

【 图 表 】

Fig. 4