Cultural Differences In Teacher Immediacy And Classroom Communication Apprehension: An Empirical Study between Brazil and the United States

Teacher immediacy and classroom communication apprehension have been well-researched in the United States. Instructional communication research in Brazil is limited, and several topics still demand investigation among the population of Brazil. This study aims to extend current research on teacher immediacy and classroom communication apprehension to the Brazilian population. We should extend the analysis to the Brazilian context instead of relying on previous investigations from other regions as the basis for cross-cultural theorizing. A total of 221 students participated in the survey. This study reports four significant findings, including (1) Brazilian student perceptions of teacher immediacy are higher than American student perceptions of teacher immediacy; (2) American students have higher levels of Classroom Communication Apprehension than Brazilian students; (3) Classroom communication apprehension negatively correlated with American student perceptions of teacher immediacy; (4) Classroom communication apprehension was found not significantly correlated with Brazilian student perceptions of teacher immediacy.