Language Civility, Immediacy and Peace Valence among Nigerian University Academics

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 seeks, in part, to “promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development ….” Since the university is a vital component of any society, promoting peace, the university can have a ripple effect on the larger Nigerian society. In addition, since interactions in the university, as in all human societies, are language driven, the language-based negotiations in the university can produce either harmony or discord. This study, thus, examined students' perception of university lecturers' immediacy and civility as they relate to peace valence of lecturers communication. Data were collected from 880 undergraduates from three federal universities in South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria, using a structured questionnaire. Pearsonian correlational analyses revealed low to moderate positive relationships between lecturers’ immediacy, civility, and perceived peace valence of their communication.

Keywords: language, peace, valence, immediacy, civility, communication.