Over recent decades, lecturer immediacy has been a widespread topic of inquiry and
research. Investigations have specifically considered the influence of lecturer verbal and
non-verbal immediacy behaviours in the classroom and their resultant impact on students’
experiences and learning outcomes. Improvements in capacity and quality of information
and communication technologies support the increase in educational transactions moving
online and an increase in the number of distance education programs worldwide. Recurring
concerns within the distance education community are the issues of physical and
psychological isolation and the separation that students experience in contrast to the
conventional classroom environment at universities. In this context, this research focused on
lecturer verbal and non-verbal text-based immediacy behaviours in an online setting as a
potential factor in reducing students’ perceived sense of isolation (physical and
psychological) and in supporting students’ learning experiences. This study inquired into
the impact of lecturer verbal and non-verbal text-based immediacy behaviours in
distance education courses on the following four student engagement variables: (1)
online class participation; (2) communication satisfaction; (3) affective learning; and (4)
cognitive learning. The study was conducted at a University in Saudi Arabia and
involved participants enrolled in distance education courses.