The Relationship Between Teacher Non-Verbal Communication and Student Behavior: A Cross-National Perspective.

This paper aims at providing insights on the role of non-verbal communication (NVC) in classroom by examining the relationship between teacher NVC cues and student behavior. Student behavior is considered in terms of perceptions of the match between the teacher and the student self-concept (i.e. self-image congruence), attention, and learning. Hypotheses are tested on a sample of students coming from Spain and Italy. Findings indicate that the student self-concept has the strongest relationship with teacher personal appearance, attention with paralinguistics, and learning with kinesics. Some differences are found in the strength of the examined relationships between Spanish and Italian students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]