Abstract
M.A. (Strategic Communication)
In order to investigate the nature of the relationship between Communication
Satisfaction and a student’s perception of their performance, a survey questionnaire
was conducted at the University of Johannesburg. The measuring instrument used in
this study is an adaption of the Downs and Hazen (1977) Communication Satisfaction
Questionnaire. The research was conducted amongst first-year students to evaluate
their communication experience of their relationship with their lecturers.
This study focuses on the student’s perspective of their academic performance as well
as their notions about their lecturer’s perceptions of their performance.
Communication Satisfaction is defined by Redding (1978:429) as the degree of
satisfaction derived by an individual from their total communication environment. The
concept of Communication Satisfaction and four contributing dimensions - Quality of the
Relationship; Communication Climate; Organisational Integration; and Personal
Feedback - were identified to explore the lecturer-student relationship. Each of these
interdependent dimensions influences the student in different ways and at different
times. Cumulatively, these dimensions contribute towards the communication
experience of the lecturer-student relationship and the outcomes and performance
thereof (Downs & Adrian, 2004:3; Kirton & Greene, 2005:242).
The results suggest that students who perceive they have a better relationship with their
lecturers do, in fact, perceive their academic performance to be higher. From the
perspective of the survey dimensions, the results indicate that low- and high- performing
students displayed statistically significantly differences on Quality of Relationship;
Communication Climate; Organisational integration and Communication Satisfaction.
No significant difference was found with the dimension of Personal Feedback.