Four college instructors and the students (N = 329) in each of their two communication classes completed the Teacher Communicator Style (TCS) instrument at five different times during the same semester. The data were used to test two underlying assumptions of Norton's (1983) Communicator Style theory. Namely, that perceptions of a person's communication style become increasingly stable as a function of more association with that person, and that separate classes of students differ in their perceptions of the same teacher's communication style. Five related research questions were also explored. / Of the ten communicator style subconstructs measured, the "Relaxed" and "Friendly" subconstructs were consistently ranked highest while the "Dominant," "Dramatic," and "Contentious" subconstructs were consistently ranked lowest. The data revealed a trend of increasing stability of students' perceptions of their teacher's communication style. This trend seems to "peak" around mid-term. However, only some of the increases in stability are statistically significant. The data also revealed that two separate classes of students differ in their perceptions of several aspects of the same teacher's communication style. Question 1 revealed that as the semester progresses, students do not move toward consensus about their teacher's communication style. Question 2 indicated that there are differences in students' perceptions of many aspects of their teacher's style based on gender, year in school, major, grade point average, expected course grade, previous experience with course content, freedom to elect a course, satisfaction with the class, and satisfaction with the teacher. Question 3 identified "satisfaction with the teacher" as the single best attitudinal predictor of the teacher's overall communication image. Question 4 identified "Friendly" as the single best communication style subconstruct predictor of the teacher's overall communication image. Question 5 revealed that there are statistically significant differences between some of the teachers' self-reports and their classes' perception of their style. / The data yielded general trends and statistically significant findings which support the assumptions underlying Norton's theory. With this and future confirmations, the theory can continue to provide a strong framework for the study of communication style. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-12, Section: A, page: 3792. / Major Professor: C. Edward Wotring. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_78111 |
| Contributors | Emanuel, Richard Cecil., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 160 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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