To: -) or to âº, that is the question: a study of students' initial impressions of instructors' paralinguistic cues

This paper explores the use of paralinguistics, defined as cues which facilitate interaction and communication without the use of specific words (e.g., emoticons, emojis) in instructor-student technologically-mediated out-of-class communication (TMOCC). Using an experiment manipulating cue use and i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Education and information technologies 2020-09, Vol.25 (5), p.4501
Main Authors: Vareberg, Kyle R, Westerman, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Students
Teachers
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This paper explores the use of paralinguistics, defined as cues which facilitate interaction and communication without the use of specific words (e.g., emoticons, emojis) in instructor-student technologically-mediated out-of-class communication (TMOCC). Using an experiment manipulating cue use and instructor sex in initial emails, we examined how respondents' (N = 236) impressions of instructors' credibility and immediacy are influenced by these paralinguistics. Results suggest instructors who use paralinguistics may be perceived as more immediate and caring but less competent; perceived trustworthiness was unaffected by paralinguistic use. Instructor sex did not generate significant differences in students' impressions. These findings have implications for current instructors when engaging in TMOCC with students; limitations and future directions are also discussed.
ISSN:1360-2357
DOI:10.1007/s10639-020-10181-9