45 4.7.Teacher’s affable behavior
6. Conclusion
This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on rapport by offering insight on specific teacher’s behaviors and strategies which students perceived as the teacher’s rapport-building strategies. These real-life strategies provide practical guidelines for teachers and teacher trainers on how to build rapport with students. It also provides some useful hints on the rapport-hampering activities to be avoided by the teachers.
A careful scrutiny of the rapport-building strategies presented in this study reveals the significance of the teacher’s interpersonal role in establishing an atmosphere of trust and intimacy in class. In such classroom atmosphere, student’s affective filter is at its lowest level and he/she gains voice, feels confident and ready to learn and flourish.
The rapport-building behaviors discovered in this study have practical implications for teachers at any level and can provide useful information for training and the evaluation of teachers. As it was mentioned before, rapport building is certainly one of the most significant criteria for teaching effectiveness (Catt, Miller & Schallenkamp, 2007) and its positive impacts on the students’ achievements have been consistently demonstrated (e.g. Bean & Eaton, 2001; Coupland, 2003; Frisby & Myers, 2008; Zhang, 2004). Therefore, providing teachers with the real instances of strategies and behaviors which can improve rapport in classroom context is a crucial part of any kind of teacher training activity. The findings of this study put forth some real instances of the behaviors and activities which were directly perceived by the students as rapport-building strategies and they can be offered as suggestions for teachers on how to develop rapport in their classes. The provision of these examples especially for novice teachers can be a great help for them in the successful implantation of these strategies at the beginning stages of their teaching career.
Furthermore, the application of motometers along with semi-structured interviews and video-taped classroom sessions provided qualitative support to past research studies on rapport effects on students learning outcomes through the depiction of the extensive effects of students’ felt rapport on their emotional stances and attitudes towards their teacher and classmates.
The current study, like any other study, bears a number of limitations. In fact, the current study did not investigate how students’ age, gender, and fields of study can influence their perceived rapport and their impressibility of different kinds of teachers’ strategies and behaviors. Besides, the teacher’s years of experience and gender can also affect his/her applied strategies and behaviors in the process of establishing rapport. It would be a valuable topic for further study to investigate rapport-building strategies with regards to the students’ age, gender, fields of study, teacher’s gender, and his/her years of experience.
It should be taken into account that, most of the rapport-building strategies must be examined from different aspects in advance. For instance, an inopportune utilization of humor in the instructional process can create a chaotic situation in which rapport is rather hampered than built. Certainly, investigating different behaviors and strategies which may lead to shaky and rapport-hampering situation in classroom context can be a valuable topic for further future studies.
47
Appendix.
Please rate the degree of rapport that you feel inside the classroom. High Rapport 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Low Rapport Comments: 1- ……. 2- ……. 3- ……. 4- ……. 5- ……. 6- ……. 7- ……. References
Bean, J., & Eaton, S. B. (2001). The psychology underlying successful retention practices. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 3(1), 73-89.
Belous, I. (2012). MaxQDA 11 [Computer software]. Marburg, Germany: Verbi Software. Boerman-Cornell, W. (1999). The five humors. The English Journal, 88(4), 66-69.
Borich, G. D. (1996). Effective Teaching Methods: Research-Based Practice, 7/e. Pearson Education India. Brown, G., & Yule, G. (1983). Discourse analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (1994). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (Vol. 1, p. 994). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents.
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (1987). Politeness: Some universals in language usage.
Burden, P., & Byrd, D. (1999). Methods for effective teaching: Meeting the needs of all students. New York: Pearson. Catt, S., Miller, D., & Schallenkamp, K. (2007). You are the key: Communicate for learning effectiveness. Education,
127(3), 369-377.
Chesebro, J. L., & McCroskey, J. C. (1998). The relationship of teacher clarity and teacher immediacy with students’ experiences of state receiver apprehension. Communication quarterly, 46(4), 446-456.
Coupland, J. (2000). Small talk. Harlow. Essex UK: Longman.
Coupland, J. (2003). Small talk: Social functions. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 36(1), 1-6.
Cranton, P. A., & Smith, R. A. (1986). A new look at the effect of course characteristics on student ratings of instruction. American Educational Research Journal, 23(1), 117-128.
48
Dewaele, J. M. (2013). Affect and Language Learning. In C. A. Chapelle, The Encyclopedia of applied linguistics (pp. 1–5). Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Dobransky, N. D., & Frymier, A. B. (2004). Developing teacher‐student relationships through out of class communication. Communication Quarterly, 52(3), 211-223.
Doff, A. (1988). Teach English trainer's handbook: A training course for teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodologies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, K. (2004). The impact of perceived teacher confirmation on receiver apprehension, motivation, and learning.
Communication Education, 53(1), 1-20.
Elzey, R. F. (1998). The construct validity of the principles of edification as measures of edifying teaching in the LDS Church Educational System.
Fägersten, K. B. (2012). Teacher discourse and code choice in a Swedish EFL classroom. In B. Yoon & H. Kim (Eds.),
Teachers’ roles in second language learning: Classroom applications of sociocultural theory (pp. 81-98). Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
Faranda, W. T., & Clarke Iii, I. (2004). Student observations of outstanding teaching: Implications for marketing educators. Journal of marketing education, 26(3), 271-281.
Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological bulletin, 51(4), 327.
Foster, P., & Ohta, A. S. (2005). Negotiation for meaning and peer assistance in second language classrooms. Applied linguistics, 26(3), 402-430.
Frisby, B. N., & Martin, M. M. (2010). Instructor–student and student–student rapport in the classroom.
Communication Education, 59(2), 146-164.
Frisby, B. N., & Myers, S. A. (2008). The relationships among perceived instructor rapport, student participation, and student learning outcomes. Texas Speech Communication Journal, 33(1), 27-34.
Gan, Z., Humphreys, G., & Hamp‐Lyons, L. (2004). Understanding successful and unsuccessful EFL students in Chinese universities. The modern language journal, 88(2), 229-244.
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2014). Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage publications.
Gardner, R. C., Masgoret, A. M., Tennant, J., & Mihic, L. (2004). Integrative motivation: Changes during a year‐long intermediate‐level language course. Language learning, 54(1), 1-34.
Gorham, J., & Christophel, D. M. (1990). The relationship of teachers' use of humor in the classroom to immediacy and student learning. Communication education, 39(1), 46-62.
Gourlay, L. (2005). OK, who’s got number one? Permeable Triadic Dialogue, covert participation and the co- construction of checking episodes. Language Teaching Research, 9(4), 403-422.
Gremler, D. D., & Gwinner, K. P. (2000). Customer-employee rapport in service relationships. Journal of Service Research, 3(1), 82-104.
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern language journal,
70(2), 125-132.
Hughes, H. (2012). An expanded critical incident approach for exploring information use and learning. Library and Information Research, 36(112), 72-95.
Johnson, R. (2000). The authority of the student evaluation questionnaire. Teaching in Higher Education, 5(4), 419- 434.
Jorgenson, J. (1992). Communication, rapport, and the interview: A social perspective. Communication Theory, 2(2), 148-156.
Kain, D. L. (1997). Critical incidents in teacher collaboration on interdisciplinary teams. Research in Middle Level Education Quarterly, 21(1), 1-29.
Kember, D., Leung, D. Y., & Kwan, K. (2002). Does the use of student feedback questionnaires improve the overall quality of teaching? Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 27(5), 411-425.
Kohlan, R. G. (1973). A comparison of faculty evaluations early and late in the course. The Journal of Higher Education, 44(8), 587-595.
Krashen, S. D. (1985). The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. Addison-Wesley Longman Ltd.
Krashen, S. D., & Terrell, T. D. (1983). The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom. Britain: Prentice Hall Europe.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2016). Classroom-oriented research from a complex systems perspective. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 6(3), 377-393.
49
Lave, J., Wenger, E., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation (Vol. 521423740). Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
Lee, Y. A. (2007). Third turn position in teacher talk: Contingency and the work of teaching. Journal of pragmatics,
39(6), 1204-1230.
Lemke, J. L. (1989). Using language in the classroom. Oxford University Press, USA.
L'hommedieu, R., Menges, R. J., & Brinko, K. T. (1990). Methodological explanations for the modest effects of feedback from student ratings. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(2), 232.
Lowman, J. (1994). Professors as performers and motivators. College Teaching, 42(4), 137-141.
Manke, M. (1990). Cazden Courtney, Classroom discourse: The language of teaching and learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1988. Pp. vii–230. Language in Society, 19(3), 436-439.
Markee, N. (2004). Zones of interactional transition in ESL classes. The Modern Language Journal, 88(4), 583-596. Markee, N. (2005). The organization of off-task talk in second language classrooms. In Applying conversation analysis
(pp. 197-213). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Mazer, J. P., Murphy, R. E., & Simonds, C. J. (2007). I'll see you on “Facebook”: The effects of computer-mediated teacher self-disclosure on student motivation, affective learning, and classroom climate. Communication education,
56(1), 1-17.
Miles, B. M., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. New York: Sage. Mori, J., & Hasegawa, A. (2009). Doing being a foreign language learner in a classroom: Embodiment of cognitive states as social events. IRAL-International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 47(1), 65-94.
Nadler, J. (2007). Build rapport and a better deal. Negotiation, 10, 9-11.
Nassaji, H., & Wells, G. (2000). What's the use of triadic dialogue? An investigation of teacher-student interaction.
Applied linguistics, 21(3), 376-406.
Nguyen, H. T. (2007). Rapport building in language instruction: A microanalysis of the multiple resources in teacher talk. Language and Education, 21(4), 284-303.
Nuthall, G. (2004). Relating classroom teaching to student learning: A critical analysis of why research has failed to bridge the theory-practice gap. Harvard educational review, 74(3), 273-306.
Nystrand, M. (1997). Dialogic instruction: When recitation becomes conversation. Opening dialogue: Understanding the dynamics of language and learning in the English classroom, 1-29.
O'Donnell, A. M., Hmelo-Silver, C. E., & Erkens, G. (Eds.). (2013). Collaborative learning, reasoning, and technology. Routledge.
Park, M. Y. (2016). Integrating rapport-building into language instruction: A study of Korean foreign language classes.
Classroom Discourse, 7(2), 109-130.
Phelan, L. (2012). Interrogating students’ perceptions of their online learning experiences with Brookfield’s critical incident questionnaire. Distance Education, 33(1), 31-44.
Placencia, M. E. (2004). Rapport‐building activities in corner shop interactions. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 8(2), 215- 245.
Pomerantz, A. (1984). Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments: Some features of preferred/dispreferred turn shaped. In J. M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (Eds.), Structures od social action: Studies in conversation analysis (pp. 57-101). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pomerantz, A., & Bell, N. D. (2007). Learning to play, playing to learn: FL learners as multicompetent language users.
Applied Linguistics, 28(4), 556-578.
Richins, J. A. (1973). Reliability of an instrument for evaluating teacher effectiveness. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University.
Roach, K. D., Cornett-Devito, M. M., & Devito, R. (2005). A cross-cultural comparison of instructor communication in American and French classrooms. Communication Quarterly, 53(1), 87-107.
Rodríguez, J. I., Plax, T. G., & Kearney, P. (1996). Clarifying the relationship between teacher nonverbal immediacy and student cognitive learning: Affective learning as the central causal mediator. Communication education, 45(4), 293- 305.
Rogers, D., & Webb, J. (1991). The ethic of caring in teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 42(3), 173-181. Schrodt, P., & Witt, P. L. (2006). Students’ attributions of instructor credibility as a function of students’ expectations of instructional technology use and nonverbal immediacy. Communication Education, 55(1), 1-20.
Shawer, S., Gilmore, D., & Banks-Joseph, S. (2009). Learner-Driven EFL Curriculum Development at the Classroom Level. International journal of teaching and learning in higher education, 20(2), 125-143.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1994). Grounded theory methodology. Handbook of qualitative research, 17, 273-85. Tannen, D. (1991). You just don't understand. USA: Ballantine Books.
50
Tickle-Degnen, L., & Rosenthal, R. (1990). The nature of rapport and its nonverbal correlates. Psychological inquiry,
1(4), 285-293.
Tsui, A. B. (1996). Reticence and anxiety in second language learning. Voices from the language classroom, 2(4), 145- 167.
Van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the language classroom: Awareness, autonomy and authenticity. London: Longman. Van Lier, L. (2008). Agency in the classroom. In J. P. Lantolf & M. E. Poehner (Eds.), Sociocultural theory and the teaching of second languages (pp. 163-186). Pennsylvania: Equinox Publishing.
Van Lier, L. (2001). Constraints and resources in classroom talk: Issues of equality and symmetry. In C. Candlin, & N. Mercer (Eds.), English language teaching in its social context (pp. 90-107). London: Routledge.
Waninge, F., Dörnyei, Z., & De Bot, K. (2014). Motivational dynamics in language learning: Change, stability, and context. The Modern Language Journal, 98(3), 704-723.
Waring, H. Z. (2014). Managing control and connection in an adult ESL classroom. Research in the Teaching of English, 49(1), 52-74.
Webb, N., & Barrett, L. O. (2014). Student views of instructor-student rapport in the college classroom. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 14(2), 15-28.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning as a social system. Systems thinker, 9(5), 1-11.
Wheeless, L. R., & Grotz, J. (1976). Conceptualization and measurement of reported self‐disclosure. Human communication research, 2(4), 338-346.
Worley, D., Titsworth, S., Worley, D. W., & Cornett-DeVito, M. (2007). Instructional communication competence: Lessons learned from award-winning teachers. Communication Studies, 58(2), 207-222.
Zhang, Q. (2004). Self-efficacy and intercultural adaptation of Chinese students at US universities. International and Intercultural Communication Annual, 27, 103-120.