The relationship of teacher clarity and teacher immediacy with students’ experiences of state receiver apprehension

This study examined the impact of state receiver apprehension in the instructional context. Because of its negative relationship with information processing effectiveness, receiver apprehension is an experience which can act as a barrier to elective learning. Teacher clarity and teacher immediacy were examined in terms of their relationship with student state receiver apprehension during the learning process. Main effect analyses revealed that both increased clarity and increased immediacy produced main effects for reducing student state receiver apprehension. The results also revealed that clarity and immediacy produced a magnitude interaction. The combination of high clarity and high immediacy was even more effective in reducing student receiver apprehension in the classroom than would be predicted by the two main effects alone.

Key concepts:

• teacher clarity
• teacher immediacy
• receiver apprehension
• teacher behaviors