motivating language
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This chapter explores pandemic-driven innovations in world language (WL) curriculum design and content delivery that encouraged student communication during remote learning. The study focused on questionnaire data from 49 WL instructors who identified specific pedagogical techniques acquired and honed during the COVID-19 pandemic, even amidst unprecedented hardships. Results indicated that WL instructors found most successful the types of activities which allowed for more timely feedback and student choice and built communicative skills for real-life situations. Furthermore, the instructors shared post-pandemic plans to employ more of these technological tools that fostered student collaboration and engagement, with a focus on building community and supporting social and emotional learning. Educators also emphasized deepened awareness regarding the myriad inequities among learners, the importance of establishing rapport with students, and the value of their own professional networks.

Drawing on motivating language theory (MLT), this paper aims to demonstrate the effects of strategic leader speech in the context of internal corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication. Specifically, the study (1) examines how leader motivating language strategies used in CSR communication influence employees’ CSR engagement and employee–organization relationships (EORs) and (2) identifies the mediator explaining the underlying psychological mechanism of the effects. Structural equation modeling was performed on a sample of 406 participants who are full-time and part-time employees in the U.S. The results showed that leader motivating language was positively associated with employees’ CSR engagement and EOR quality. Such relationships were significantly mediated by person–organization (PO) fit. This study advances CSR research and practice by explicating the impact of leaders’ oral communication in constructing employees’ CSR experiences and relationships with the employer.

Abstract This paper examines the determinant factors motivating language choice in churches in coastal Accra, an area characterized by a high degree of urbanization and multilingualism. As this region is also ethnically Gã, we survey the attitudes of Gã congregants to the use of other languages in their churches, bearing in mind the pressure faced by Gã from the more dominant vehicular languages, Akan and English. Data was obtained via participant observation, questionnaires and interviews. Using domain analysis, we show that language choice in the church domain is guided by the diametric principles of inclusiveness and church expansion on the one hand, and the conservation of a homogeneous socio-cultural identity on the other. Multilingual churches espouse the former while monolingual churches prize the latter. Gã congregants in churches that make extensive use of Akan and English report feeling satisfied with the language choices in their churches as they see these lingua francas as necessary for reaching out to the wider community. Although in other spheres of life there is irritation among Gã natives about the diminishing role of their language, in the church domain, this is readily tolerated for the greater good of advancing the church’s work.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to determine the influence of rural superintendent’s talk on the perceived outcomes of principal communication competence and organizational communication satisfaction. More specifically, this study explored whether the source credibility dimensions of goodwill, competency and trustworthiness had a greater impact on the perceived outcomes when mediated by motivating language (ML) than not.Design/methodology/approachDirect and indirect paths between superintendent and principal communication were modeled, analyzed and evaluated using descriptive and inferential methods, including R version 3.6.1 with the lavaan package and the Sobel mediation test.FindingsResearch findings indicated the importance of superintendent talk and motivating language theory (MLT) that, when combined, constitute the medium of superintendent practice and enable a superintendent to execute their roles and duties. Additionally, the authors found the dimensions of goodwill and competency had the most significant impact on the two outcomes mediated by ML. This finding indicates that principals are calling for a more empathetic and interactive form of credibility than the long-established form of credibility based on expertise and stewardship. Finally, as the authors call for an expanded role from the community in research, scholarship and implementation of MLT, they suggest due to the lack of significance in trustworthiness mediated by ML, future research into trustworthiness and trust.Originality/valueThis study’s value is to increase understanding of educational administration scholars of MLT and its power to influence employee and organizational outcomes and highlight a reframing of superintendent credibility away from say and do agreement and expertise and stewardship.

This study surveyed 482 employees in the United States to test the impact of leaders’ motivating language on employee advocacy. In addition, the study tested the mediating role of perceived organizational authenticity and employee organizational identification. Results suggested that motivating language is not directly related to employee advocacy. However, an indirect relationship is observed through two mediating processes: (1) serial mediation of organizational authenticity and organizational identification and (2) single mediation of organizational identification.

This study sought to determine whether motivating language theory and feedback orientation theory connect, and if so, whether or not this impacts employee contextual performance in the workplace. Survey data was collected from 458 individuals (142 undergraduate students, and a national sample of 316 employees). Statistically significant relationships were observed between motivating language and feedback orientation, between motivating language and contextual performance, and between feedback orientation and contextual performance. Feedback orientation was found to moderate the relationship between motivating language and contextual performance. Implications and generalizability of these theories to other settings are presented.

Purpose This study aims to validate the motivating language scale developed by Mayfield et al. (1995) in the context of the hotel industries of Bangladesh and Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach For Study 1, data were collected from employees (lower and mid-level) of three to five-star hotels in Bangladesh. Customer-contact employees working in four- and five-star hotels in Malaysia participated in Study 2. Both studies featured a cross-sectional survey design. Findings Factor analysis revealed that both samples provided three-factor solutions for the motivating language scale in both countries. Convergent, discriminant and nomological validity were assessed by testing with outcome variables of motivating language. Research limitations/implications Future studies may use all three versions of the scale (Bengali, Malay and English) to collect data, as all three have been validated. Originality/value By validating the Bengali and Malay versions of the motivating language scale, this study contributes to the leadership language literature, specifically that related to hotel industries in developing contexts.

This study examines how supervisory leadership communication during the COVID-19 pandemic fostered employee trust through the lens of motivating language theory. Drawing insight from self-determination theory, this study also reveals the mediating effects of employees’ psychological need satisfaction for competence and relatedness in this process, which help explain how supervisory leadership communication influences employee trust. Through an online survey of 393 full-time employees from various organizations in the U.S., results showed that supervisory use of meaning-making (0.15), empathetic (0.60), and direction-giving language (0.27) during the pandemic all showed significant positive effects on employee trust toward leadership and the organization directly, and indirectly through satisfying employees’ psychological need for competence and relatedness. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.