ABSTRACT

While these studies provide reassuring evidence for the validity of the student rating measures, the fact that so few studies of teacher immediacy incorporate direct observational, behavioral measures of teachers' nonverbal behavior remains a limitation of this area. An important thrust of the research agenda for teacher nonverbal immediacy thus should be a more detailed analysis of the precise nature of the nonverbal behaviors that communicate immediacy through detailed coding ofvideotapes of high-and low-immediacy teachers. Follow-up studies should then systematically manipulate the identified behaviors to determine which are most critical in affecting student outcomes.