This study describes teacher communication activities that students in two graduate preprofessional classrooms identified as face-relevant. The study relies on an interdisciplinary link between identity management and student motivation research. Self-determination theory, suggests that intrinsic motivation depends on an even more fundamental vigilance and responsiveness to the learner identities constantly communicated in class, perhaps especially during those interactions when students feel most "exposed." This study examines the graduate students' abilities to address identity needs through "facework," a term that refers to the identity implications of communicated messages. Facework can be face-supporting or face-threatening, depending upon the individual's perceptions. Ethnographic methods found 7 instructional communication activities during which students reported feeling one or more of their face needs addressed (i.e., supported or threatened). Findings and extant research are cited to demonstrate the positive motivational consequences of instructor face-support during these face-relevant interactions. Results extend previous communication research on motivation, immediacy, and influence in the classroom.