ICA-18-10234
A Meta-Analytical Review of the Relationship between
Teacher Immediacy and Student Learning
Abstract
This meta-analysis reviews the findings of 81 studies (N = 24,474) examining the relationship
between teachers’ verbal and/or nonverbal immediacy and students’ learning outcomes. The
cumulative evidence indicates a meaningful correlation (r = .50) between overall teacher
immediacy and overall student learning. Average correlations were obtained for teachers’ verbal
immediacy (r = .47), nonverbal immediacy (r = .48), and combined-only immediacy (r = .55) in
relation to overall student learning. Teachers’ verbal immediacy was found to correlate with
students’ perceived learning (r = .49), affective learning (r = .49), and cognitive learning (r =
.06). Teachers’ nonverbal immediacy was found to correlate with students’ perceived learning (r
= .51), affective learning (r = .49), and cognitive learning (r = .17). Average effect sizes were
generally smaller in experimental research designs than in survey-type research. The cumulative
results of this meta-analysis confirm that teacher immediacy has a substantial relationship with
certain attitudes and perceptions of students in relation to their learning, but an almost negligible
relationship with cognitive learning performance.