ELT Concourse Teacher Training: Backchannelling in Communication

Backchannelling in Communication

ELT Concourse teacher training
Backchannelling
This is variously spelled as back-channelling or back channelling. We will stick with the
one-word compound.

Backchannelling should not be confused with turn taking, although there are
connections, as we shall see. Turn taking is to do with what happens at the interface
between moves in an interaction, backchannelling is to do with what happens during
longer moves.

There is a link at the end to the guide to turn taking or you can click here to go there
now (new tab).

Backchannelling can be defined as listener responses to what is being said rather than
the listener attempting to interrupt or take a turn. In this sense, it is part of what is
essentially one-way communication because the person doing the backchannelling is
not contributing anything new to the exchange. It can be verbal, paralinguistic or
signalled by silence and eye contact. When backchannelling is verbal, it is normally
phatic, i.e., requires no response and communicates little but ongoing interest.

Backchannelling is also not simply a response to an utterance as in, for example:
I've passed my driving test.
That's great!
That is just an initiation and a conventional response (in this case the preferred one).
Backchannelling differs in being the on-going reaction of the listener during a speaker's
longer turn.

In almost all cultures, it is important that both the speaker and the listener are taking an
active part in an interaction. Listeners, in other words, need to be active.We use the expression almost all cultures deliberately.

There is evidence that within Anglophone cultures, and many other cultures, especially
in Europe, silence on behalf of a participant in a conversation signals the need for
someone else to take a turn and is not tolerated for long. In other cultures, such as
those containing speakers of North American Athabaskan or Dene speakers (which
includes, e.g., Navajo) silence betokens no such thing and speakers of these languages
remain silent without this causing any feelings of discomfort.

Encounters between English speakers and Athabaskan speakers may result, as Trudgill
(2000:132) has suggested in
Athabaskans ... thinking that English speakers are rude, dominating, superior, smug
and self centred
and English speakers finding
Athabaskans rude, superior, surly, taciturn and withdrawn

In what follows we are analysing what is properly known as discourse makers, i.e.,
those signals that speakers use to manage and mark phases in discourse. Discourse
markers are also part of turn taking language, of course.

The term discourse marker is now used so loosely in the profession, to mean almost
any language element that contributes to coherence or cohesion that it has lost all utility
as a technical term. We shan't use it again here.

Types of Backchannelling

Non-verbal Backchannelling

Backchannelling does not need to be spoken, it can be achieved by smiles, eye
contact, gesture and a number of other paralinguistic features.

Eye contact is, in particular, variable across cultures and what is perceived by a
person from one culture as a token of interest in what is being said may be
deemed slightly aggressive in another culture. Anglophone cultures fall into the
first category. On the other hand, in East Asian, South American and some
African cultures, extended eye contact can be interpreted as a challenge or
hostile act.

Cultures with large power distances also tend to be those in which extended eye
contact with one's superiors is often culturally inappropriate.

In most cultures, head nodding is a sign of agreement while eyebrow raising is
one of surprise or disbelief. That is not a universal truth because in some, an
upward tilt of the head means No and in others it signals doubt or disagreement.

Verbal Backchannelling

Most verbal backchannelling is phatic, insofar as it communicates little but the
listener's intention to maintain a comfortable rapport with the speaker.

It takes various forms, for example:

Noises and Interjections

Noises and interjections such as
Mm Mm
Uh Huh
Ah
Wow!
Cor!
Oh!
Urgh!
Mmmm
etc. which signal the listener's reaction to (and by implicationcomprehension of) what the speaker has said.

Single-word Comments

Single-word comments such as
My
Goodness!
Awful!
Interesting
Yes
etc. which do carry a bit more meaning but are still phatic insofar as they
perform no communicative function in terms of the transmission of
information. Mostly these words signal the desire to maintain rapport.

Short Phrases or Clauses

Short phrases or clauses such as
And so?
What then?
How awful for you
How nice for you
That's good
Do go on
Tell me more
etc. which carry some information and are often routinised and produced
as single language chunks (which is how they can be taught, of course).

Functions of Backchannelling

There is as yet no complete or generally agreed description of the functions of
backchannelling but the following is based on some intuitively sensible functions that
backchannelling signals realise. All these functions can be achieved verbally and non-
verbally.

1. Continuers: Please go on
   Making prolonged eye contact while remaining silent is, in some cultures, an
   encouragement to continue talking. In others, as we saw, it is not and may be
   seen as aggressive.
   Other ways of realising the function are with rising intonation, for example:
   Mm Mm
   Uh Huh/
   Yeah Yeah
   etc.
   It has been noted that most continuers are multisyllabic (rather than the
   monosyllabic fillers which have no discourse function). For example, saying
   Uh \
   in the middle of a turn functions as a filler, therefore, but saying
   Uh huhduring someone else's turn is a backchannelling device.
   Continuers are almost always spoken with a fall-rising tone or a simple rising
   tone. Uttering, for example,
   Yeah , yeah \
   with a falling tone would be construed as showing a lack of interest or
   impatience.
   The conventional pitch movements to teach are, therefore:
   U
   or
2. Comprehension signals: I understand
   These sorts of backchannelling devices are almost always verbal because there
   is no universal gesture or facial expression which sends the message that the
   listener understands what has been said. They include:
   Uh Huh ->
   Yes, I see ->
   OK ->
   Right ->
   Mm ->
   The difference is that these can be uttered with a flat or slightly falling tone as
   they do not signal encouragement, just that the listener has understood so far.
   For example, when being given directions, the listener may insert any one of
   these kinds of signals after each stage of the directions to signal that what has
   been said so far has been noted and the speaker may go on rather than
   recapitulating.
   The pitch shows no movement (or a slight fall) and is, therefore:
   or
3. Agreement signals: That's right
   These devices may be non-verbal and include vigorous nodding and smiling
   alongside hand gestures such as thumbs-up sign, displaying both empty hands
   to imply I don't know either and so on. They can also be verbal and include, for
   example:
   Yes, yes 7
   Right! 7
   I agree 7
   Spot on 7
   True. True 7
   Too true
   Dead right! 7
   etc.
   Again, like continuers, they need usually to be uttered with a rising or fall-rising
   tone or miscomprehension will arise. Spoken with a falling or even a flat tone, for
   example,
   Yes, yes \
   can indicate impatience and frustration.
   The pitch movement is, therefore:
4. Empathy signals: How awful for you!
   These can be positive responses or those showing sympathy. They also vary in
   strength with some expressing quite high levels of emotional response and
   others being much weaker.
   For example, these are positive empathetic
   comments:
   Great! 7
   Congratulations!
   Wow 7
   Yesss! 7
   Good for you 7
   Well done 7
   etc. and these can also include non-verbal signals such as fist pumping or
   handshaking.
   Sympathy signals can also be made non-verbally with a sad face or downcast
   mouth shape but verbal signals include:
   Oh, dear
   Oh, I'm sorry >
   What a pity
   1
   etc.
   Non-verbally, this form of backchannelling can often be achieved by, e.g., tightly
   shutting one's eyes to show horror or great sympathy, raising eyebrows to show
   interest or surprise or slow, repeated head nodding to show empathy.
   Verbally, the two types have different intonation contours so the positive ones will
   usually be spoken with a rising or fall-rise contour and the sympathetic responses
   with a falling intonation and, usually, lowering of voice volume.
   The pitch movement is, therefore:
   or
5. Expansion request: Is that so?
   These are not quite the same as interruption asking for more detail or
   clarification. They are simply minor prompts to the speaker that he / she should
   expand a little on what's just been said so they do not constitute turn-grabbingacts. They include:
   Really? 7
   Is that so?
   7
   And? "
   etc.
   A common form is that the listener repeats the last phrase uttered by the speaker
   but with a rising or questioning intonation contour such as:
   to the hospital? ?
   Which signals the listener's wish for a little more information.
   The pitch movement is, therefore, usually, simply:

The Grey Area of Backchannelling

It bears repeating that backchannelling and turn-taking are not at all the same thing.
There is, however, a slightly grey area between them which concerns what happens
when a speaker interprets a back-channelling device as a request for a turn and
concedes the floor or when a listener converts or extends a backchannelling signal into
a new turn and overrides the speaker.

The first of these can happen in a dialogue such as:
A: And the road between here and my parents' house has just got worse and worse
B: I know, I've driven it myself
A: Have you? When?
in which speaker A has misinterpreted B's comment to be a request for a turn and so
concedes the floor by asking the question. B's comment may have been intended as
an agreement signal only and B may have expected A to continue the turn after it was
uttered.

Backchannelling can also be used as a way of sneakily grabbing a turn because what
begins as a backchannelling device can, if the speaker allows it, be converted by
extending it into a proper turn-taking move. It can happen like this:
A: And the road between here and my parents' house has just got worse and worse
B: Has it?
A: Yeah. It's almost undriveable because of the roadworks and so on
B: I know, I've driven it myself and you are right about it. I've written to the council
twice and got no response so I'm going down to the Town Hall tomorrow to speak
to the Chief Engineer and see what she has to say about it. We need to get
something done.
in which speaker A has responded conventionally to speaker B's first backchannelling
utterance by giving the required information. Speaker B has then, however, used an
agreement expression but extended it and stolen the turn. Speaker A has been patient
and tolerant to allow this to happen.

Thornbury (2005) and others include backchannelling as a part of turn-taking skills and
that is a defensible position. The problem is that, as we have just seen, how the current
speaker and the backchanneller interpret what is said is open to a good deal of doubt
and dependent to a large extent on the listener's confidence and intentions and the
context. The current turn-holder's confidence and intentions also play a role.

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