Students' Silent Messages: Can Teacher Verbal and Nonverbal Immediacy Moderate Student Use of Text Messaging in Class?

This study investigated the relationship between teacher immediacy and college students' use of text messaging in class. Using a cross-sectional survey sample (N=228), structural equation model analyses showed that students' learning motivation does not mediate the potential effects of teacher immediacy and students' use of text messaging in class. The finding also suggested that college students' use of text messaging in class was related positively to their daily texting usage, meaning that mobile texting is a recurring behavior (i.e., a habit) that may occur despite a high level of teacher immediacy behavior.