Date

5-20-2026

Degree

Master of Arts in Professional Communication (MA)

Chair

Bruce Kirk

Keywords

Communication, motivation, education, intrinsic motivation, classroom communication, student motivation

Disciplines

Communication | Education

Abstract

The classroom environment is one of vast areas of scholarly literature yet may levels of understanding classroom communication remain unexplored. This study provides an in-depth analysis of the lived student experience with how teacher communication impacts student motivation in general as well as intrinsic forms of communication. Data for this research was taken directly from student accounts of verbal and nonverbal interactions with teachers that impacted their motivation. One of the key findings of this research was the observed process that participants described through interviews. This observed three step process displayed how verbal and nonverbal communication were expressed to have a direct impact on student motivation. The three steps in this observed process are: observation of teacher verbal and nonverbal communication, student formation of investment orientation based on observation of teacher verbal and nonverbal communication, and lastly motivation outcomes. Many verbal and nonverbal codes were found to be impactful on student motivation in general. When a student perceived a teacher to be invested through verbal and nonverbal communication, their motivation was impacted positively and when a student perceived a teacher to have a lack of motivation through verbal and nonverbal communication, their motivation was impacted negatively. The verbal and nonverbal communication instances observed and expressed by participants were not directly impactful on their own, instead it was impactful through the investment orientation that students formed about their teachers based on those verbal and nonverbal codes. Verbal and nonverbal codes that are effective in promoting intrinsic motivation were found to be the codes that signaled a presence of teacher investment in the student, the class, or education in general.

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