The purpose of the present study is to investigate similarities and differences in the listening behaviors of native speakers and learners of Japanese, focusing on the production of aizuchi and head nods. The term aizuchi is often interchangeably used with the word backchannel, and these are characterized as the listener's use of short utterances such as oh or uh huh in English or hai, un, or aa in Japanese. In this study, aizuchi is defined as a short verbal utterance that is produced in response to the primary speaker's speech in Japanese. A total of 14 NS--NS or 14 NS--NNS dyads were formed to elicit native speakers' and learners' aizuchi and head nods. With the exception of a few participants in their late twenties, most of the participants were female native speakers and learners of Japanese who were of college age. The learners of Japanese were native speakers of American English who had been labeled as intermediate/high-intermediate level learners of Japanese. Each interaction included a semi-free conversation and a narrative story-telling task, both of which were recorded and transcribed for analysis. The findings indicate that the differences in the use of aizuchi and head nods produced by native speakers and learners lie not mainly in their frequency, but in the types and functions. The results show that when the frequency of aizuchi and head nods was measured with a time-based scale, which was the frequency per 60 seconds, differences were found in the frequency of head nods and total frequency of aizuchi and head nods. However, no significant difference was found in the frequency of aizuchi and head nods based on the amount of speech the speakers produced. Aizuchi were categorized into 16 groups to investigate differences in their types. The results show that the learners were using less aa-group, hee-group, iya-group aizuchi but more soo-group aizuchi compared to the native speakers. The number of different aizuchi each participant used was also measured to examine the variety of aizuchi, and it was found that both the native speakers and the learners were producing a similar number of different aizuchi. Head nods were analyzed based on nodding count, and it was revealed that more multiple head nods were observed in the learner's behaviors. The functions of aizuchi and head nods were categorized into seven groups, and the distribution of the functions was analyzed. The results indicate that learners tend to use more aizuchi to express their understanding and reaction to their interlocutors' response solicitation, while the use of aizuchi that do not show their attitude was more frequent with native speakers. The distribution of the functions of head nods was similar between the two groups. By further examining the types and the function of aizuchi and head nods, the study sheds light on which types of aizuchi learners may be lacking or overusing. Pedagogical implications are drawn from the results.

This study explores English language pragmatic phenomena in the Mandarin speech of a native Chinese language teacher as she interacts with American learners of Mandarin in a university classroom setting. I document and analyze her use of English backchannel 'mm hmm' in interactions that are otherwise in Mandarin, and I document and analyze the transfer of American interaction rituals and English syntax to her Mandarin language interactions with students. In this context, her patterns of communication both reflect and constitute cultural worlds. These pragmatic transfers to her Mandarin reflect her cultural and communicative assimilation to America, but they also serve to constitute pedagogical contexts that are familiar to American students and may facilitate their learning, and they serve to constitute a sojourner Chinese scholar identity for the teacher.

Audience Response Systems (ARSs) provide a promising opportunity to address issues occurring in traditional higher education, e.g., the lack of interaction, by allowing students to participate anonymously in lectures using their mobile devices. This can promote the students' attention, increase the interaction between the lecturer and the students and foster active thinking during class. In order to choose an appropriate ARS, numerous surveys list and classify these systems according to different criteria, e.g., supported features and platforms. [From the introduction]

El papel del oyente en una conversación no fue considerado un factor de mucha importancia por mucho tiempo, pero en los últimos años han recibido más atención gracias de los estudios de Análisis de la Conversación los cuales han hecho más evidente la importancia de quien recibe el mensaje en la co-creación de la interacción oral. En ingles, el tema de “backchannel” ha sido estudiado desde los años cincuenta, este refiere a las breves emisiones que el oyente envía al hablante para comunicarle que le está prestando su atención. El término más común en español es Turno de Apoyo Conversacional. El objetivo es conocer si los Turnos de apoyo conversacionales cambian en conversaciones multiculturales. Se analiza cómo los hispanohablantes nativos adaptan su estrategia de turnos de apoyo cuando conversan con suecos que hablan español como lengua extranjera. También son estudiados los cambios en las estrategias de los turnos de apoyo de los suecos que usan el español como lengua extranjera cuando hablan con hispanohablantes nativos. Para lograr esto, los turnos de apoyos conversacionales de los suecos hablando sueco también han sido analizados. Un total de seis conversaciones fueron analizados de transcripciones de un corpus oral, los turnos de apoyos conversacionales fueron identificados y clasificados basados en su función. Los resultados indican que los hispanohablantes nativos adaptan sus estrategias de apoyo cuando hablan con no nativos. Esto se debe a la necesidad de confirmar un entendimiento y a una adopción de una transferencia que los suecos traen a la conversación española.

No description available.

This study explores the role of speaker and listener gaze in the production of recipient responses, often called backchannels or, in Japanese, aizuchi. Using elicited narrative audio/video data, speaker gaze and recipient response behaviours were first analyzed quantitatively. The results showed that majority of recipient responses are made while the speaker is gazing at the recipient. Next, a qualitative multimodal analysis was performed on a specific type of recipient response that occurred both during and without speaker gaze. The results showed that recipients make good use of the state of the speakers gaze to regulate the speakers talk and negotiate for a pause, a repair, or a turn at talk. These findings suggest that what are currently known as backchannels are only a small part of a much larger sequential multimodal system that is inseparable from the ongoing talk. / Japanese Language and Linguistics

This dissertation argues that through a secret backchannel, US National Security Adviser and later Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Soviet Ambassador to the US Anatoly Dobrynin formed a relationship which provided the empathy needed to bridge many of the ideological differences between their two countries. It examines transcripts of their telephone conversations from 1969-1977 when the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in detente, or a relaxation of tensions, during the Cold War. The dissertation concludes that the Kissinger-Dobrynin backchannel serves as a case study of the effectiveness of back channels in international diplomacy.

This Bachelor thesis is about digital tools for event organisers. The platforms offered by companies serve as digital backchannels that among other things facilitate interactions between audience and stage, for example during live Q&A sessions. This work focuses on the tasks and challenges of moderators on site and aims to develop a system that will optimise their workflows. Therefore, a tool is developed that allows moderators to conduct a Q&A session independently without having to rely on the assistance of an event organiser operating a desktop based platform simultaneously. The analysis addresses the moderator's role and tasks. It turns out that the functions of the platform relevant to the moderator can be combined in a mobile interface that is linked to it. Using a semi- structured expert interview, the feedback from clients of the start-up "Happenn" is gathered, which use the already existing platform of the company. Their platform "Happenn Live" serves as case study for this thesis. On the basis of the findings of the methods adapted to Lean UX, a solution approach in the form of a redesign of the platform and a corresponding mobile application for moderators is conceptualised. The structure and visual design of the platform follows the general design standards for desktop- and mobile-based interfaces. In this way, an improved usability can be achieved by making the platform more user-friendly for the user.

Les technologies de l'interaction personne-machine se centrent de plus en plus sur l'humain. Le statut informatif des expressions présentes massivement en dehors des tours de parole, dans les micro-événements visibles ou audibles, inscrit le sujet dans une communication permanente du Feeling of Thinking (états physiologiques, mentaux, émotionnels, intentionnels et attitudinaux). Ce travail a été mené sur un corpus induit émotionnellement et restreignant l'interaction personne-machine au minima langagier. Une méthodologie empirique, sur des principes éthologiques, a d'abord été construite pour annoter les micro-gestes audibles et visibles de 6 sujets. Une analyse perceptive a ensuite mesuré la pertinence communicative de certaines icônes gestuelles. Puis a été menée une étude des occurrences des micro-gestes dans l'organisation temporelle de la tâche et des tours de parole, traçant ainsi le comportement des sujets. Enfin a été proposée une qualification impressionniste des nombreux sons vocaux non lexicaux qui ponctuent les performances (bruits de bouche, grunts, bursts, fillers, interjections).

Backchanneling – maintaining real-time online conversations alongside the primary group activity or live spoken remarks – is a growing part of our mobile-enhanced, networked world. Backchanneling is now prominent in many contexts, including presidential debates, conferences, and classrooms. As such, backchanneling offers possibilities and challenges for communication scholars, including carnival, collaboration, bricolage, and performance. This panel will present various theories and practices of backchanneling and encourages backchanneling from audience members through the Twitter hashtag #csca14bc.