Study on Discourse Behavior, Immediacy, and Willingness to Communicate of Chinese English Teachers

Abstract

Communication not only connects emotions, but education also relies on communication. Whether between teachers and students or between parents and children, communication is necessary to achieve the purpose of education or emotional development. In China, most students tend to view English as dull and useless, which leads to a lack of interest in learning English. However, the incorrect communication style of English teachers can lead to students becoming bored with English and their teachers. Immediacy has a direct impact on communication, and teachers' words, behaviors, and other factors directly affect their immediacy, willingness to communicate and communication effectiveness. So, in order to make communication smoother and improve the effectiveness of education, this article pointed out the connections between discourse behavior, immediacy and willingness to communicate, and proposed some methods and communication skills on how to improve one's own immediacy. After conducting practical research on the methods proposed in this article, the results showed that the immediacy scores of the four teachers who conducted the practice increased by about 12 points before and after the interview, and students' ratings for the four teachers were all 90 points higher, confirming that the methods proposed in this article can effectively enhance immediacy and strengthen communication between teachers and students.