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Marie Lanen
Head of parenting section (baby, pregnancy, family)
English researchers have been interested in the link between the tone and voice used by teachers and student learning. Should teachers be authoritative or warm? Scientists answer…
If positive and benevolent education has been advocated by neuroscientists for several years now, when is it in the classrooms? Are professors using an authoritative tone more listened to than those with a soft and calm voice? This is the question that English scientists have tried to answer.
More engaged students with a soft-spoken teacher
Researchers at the University of Essex in Great Britain conducted a study on 250 students aged 10 to 16 to establish a link between the tone of voice used by teachers in front of their students and learning. The scientists listened to lectures recorded with different tones and voices: a dry, cold voice, with an authoritative tone; or a calm, warm tone, with a soft and calm voice to the students. Result ? The children largely responded that they preferred teachers who have a calm, warm tone and a soft voice. Indeed, a benevolent tone allows students to feel more confident and more motivated in class. On the contrary, teachers using an authoritative tone and having a shrill and dry voice are judged as not being trustworthy by the children. Their courses are cataloged as less motivating. Moreover, class participation suffers. On the other hand, the authoritarian tone makes students want to rebel more. Finally, a teacher who uses an overly directive tone tends to lower students’ self-esteem according to the English study.
The Effect of Voice Tone and Vibration on Our Emotions
If the results of the study did not surprise the researchers “In summary, the tone of voice seems to play an important role in shaping the impact of teachers on their students” they conclude; it is not the only research that has proven the effect of the voice on humans, and in particular on their emotions. University College London analyzed the emotions of a group of people who had to watch a memorable scene from a film. At first, people only viewed the images, then, in a second step, these people only had to listen to the audio of this scene. Conclusion, the emotions were more intense when the testers listened to the audio of the scene. Sound is therefore very important.