Date

8-20-2026

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Chair

Constance Pearson

Keywords

instructional communication, constructivism, secondary English education

Disciplines

Education

Abstract

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore secondary English teachers’ experiences related to instructional communication with their students in a southeastern state. Guided by Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, the study examined how teachers perceive, experience, and navigate communication within contemporary secondary English classrooms. Participants included 10 secondary English teachers from two public high schools who had at least three years of teaching experience and worked with diverse student populations. Data were collected through open-ended questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups and were analyzed using phenomenological reduction, including epoché and horizontalization. Five themes emerged from the analysis: the varied nature of instructional communication, building instructional communication through relationships, teacher attitudes toward communication, students’ communicative styles and preferences, and barriers to instructional communication. Findings revealed that teachers viewed communication as a multifaceted and deeply relational process that extends beyond the transmission of content. Participants emphasized the importance of rapport, adaptability, clear expectations, and student-centered practices in fostering meaningful learning experiences. Teachers also identified evolving student communication preferences, technology-related challenges, literacy deficits, and systemic constraints as significant barriers. Overall, instructional communication was experienced as an ongoing process of negotiating academic expectations while responding to students’ linguistic, social, and emotional needs.

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