Ali Derakhshan - Corresponding Author, Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics, Department of English Language and Literature, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran.

Due to the crucial role of student academic engagement in learning a second language, teacher interpersonal variables which affect second language learners’ engagement have gained momentum. To keep up with this line of inquiry, this study attempted to probe the role of Persian language teachers’ nonverbal immediacy and credibility in their Turkman students’ academic engagement. To do this, ۵۰۳ Turkman students with different educational grades (i.e., ۷, ۸, ۹, ۱۰, ۱۱, ۱۲) voluntarily took part in this study from different regions of Golestan province. The sample included ۲۸۲ females and ۲۲۱ males ranging in age from ۱۲ to ۱۸. To obtain the data, Nonverbal Immediacy Scale (NIS), Source Credibility Scale (SCS), and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale for Students (UWES-S) were distributed among participants. Pearson correlation coefficient tests were run to analyze the gathered data. The results exhibited that there were significant positive correlations among Persian language teachers’ nonverbal immediacy, credibility, and Turkman students’ academic engagement. The findings were also approved by structural equation modeling (SEM) results: Turkman students’ academic engagement was predicted significantly and positively by their Persian language teachers’ nonverbal immediacy and credibility. The outcomes of the present study posit that Turkman students’ academic engagement can be remarkably enhanced by their Persian language teachers’ credibility and nonverbal immediacy. Finally, the pedagogical implications for teaching Persian to speakers of other languages are also discussed..

Student Academic Engagement, Teacher Nonverbal Immediacy, Teacher Credibility, Turkman Students, Persian Language Teachers, Second Language Learning, Structural Equation Modeling