A cross-cultural study of the relationships between teacher credibility, teacher clarity, and nonverbal immediacy

This study explores teacher credibility in relation to teacher clarity and nonverbal immediacy in the U.S. and China. Participants consisted of 320 students from 10 academic departments of a public university in the U.S. and 388 students from 10 analogous departments of an equivalent university in China. The survey employed three established instruments: the Perceived Teacher Credibility scale, Teacher Clarity Short Inventory, and Nonverbal Immediacy Behavior Scale. Data collection took place during the 12th week into the semester at each institution. Descriptive analyses revealed significant differences in perceived teacher credibility (p < .05), teacher clarity (p < .001) and nonverbal immediacy (p < .001) between the two cultures as rated by students in each country. Multiple regressions indicated similar patterns between the cultures in the relationships between perceived teacher credibility and the two independent variables. Teacher clarity appears to be associated with greater amount of increase in perceived teacher credibility than nonverbal immediacy. The results indicate a need for further testing of the relationships revealed in this research both in the U.S. and in other cultures, which are on the other end of the continuum of the cultural dimensions. This study also calls for further explanations of the gap between U.S. and China in terms of the communication variables under study.