A multimodal interaction analysis of rapport in elementary schools from central Mexico

Abstract

"Rapport is a positive mutual relationship that is marked by affinity and harmony (Nadler, 2007). This paper aims to understand the way teachers from public and private elementary schools establish rapport with their students by exploring which and how gestures, influence the students’ behavior. This is a case study that uses an approach proposed by Norris (2004, 2011, 2016, 2019) named Multimodal Interaction Analysis. This research takes place in Central Mexico and four teachers from private and public schools were observed using a Rapport Observation Sheet that is a modified version of Pianta’s (1999) Teacher-Student Relationship Scale, and recordings were analyzed. Extracts and screenshots were taken from the recordings where the interactions show the establishment of rapport or the lack of it. Results show that the establishment of rapport increases students’ participation and engagement towards the class and their learning process. On the contrary, the lack of rapport establishment causes low class participation, decreases communication between teachers and students, and does not allow an enjoyable classroom atmosphere, neither for teachers nor for students. This project targets to shed some light on the importance of rapport building inside the student-teacher interactions in the primary school classroom".