Listener response

Deng Xudong
Table of contents

The conversational phenomenon of listener response has attracted a great deal of attention during the past five decades from such diverse scholarly disciplines as linguistics, conversation analysis, (cross-cultural) communication studies, sociolinguistics, and experimental and social psychology. A number of terms have been used to describe this kind of listener behaviour, including ‘signals of continued attention’ (Fries 1952), ‘recognition’ (Rosenfeld 1966, 1967), ‘concurrent feedback’ (Krauss & Weinheimer 1966), ‘accompaniment signals’ (Kendon 1967), ‘listener responses’ (Dittmann & Llewellyn 1967, 1968; Bavelas, Coates, & Johnson 2002), ‘assent terms’ (Schegloff 1968; Leet-Pellegrini 1980), ‘back channels’ or ‘backchannel responses’ (Yngve 1970; Duncan 1972, 1973; Duncan & Niederehe 1974; Duncan & Fiske 1977, 1985; Ward & Tsukahara, 2000; Cutrone 2005; Li, 2006), ‘encourager’ (Edelsky 1981), ‘continuers’ (Schegloff 1982), ‘limited feedback’ (Kraut, Lewis, & Swezey 1982), ‘responsive listener cues’ (Miller, Lechner, & Rugs 1985), ‘minimal responses’ (Fishman 1978; DeFrancisco 1991; Bennett & Jarvis 1991), ‘reactive tokens’ (Clancy et al. 1996; Young & Lee 2004), ‘acknowledgment tokens’ (Jefferson 1984, 1983/1993; Drummond & Hopper 1993a, 1993c), ‘receipt tokens’ (Heritage 1984), ‘response tokens’ (Gardner 2001, 2007) and ‘project makers’ (Bangerter, Clark, & Katz 2004). For the sake of generality and easy comprehensibility, the term ‘listener response’ is used in this paper to refer to the verbal and nonverbal behaviours of a listener in response to his or her co-conversationalist’s talk.

Full-text access is restricted to subscribers. Log in to obtain additional credentials. For subscription information see Subscription & Price.

References

Argyle, M. , M. Lalljee & M. Cook
1968 The effects of visibility on interaction in a dyad. Human Relations 21(1): 3-17. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bales, R.F
1950 Interaction process analysis: A method for the study of small groups. Addison-Wesley. Google Scholar
Bangerter, A. , H.H. Clark & A.R. Katz
2004 Navigating joint projects in telephone conversations. Discourse Processes 37(1): 1-23. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Bavelas, J.B., L. Coates & T. Johnson
2002 Listener responses as a collaborative process: The role of gaze. Journal of Communication 52(4): 566-580. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beach, W.A
1993 Transitional regularities for ‘casual’ “Okay” usages. Journal of Pragmatics 19: 325-352. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1995 Preserving and constraining options: “Okays” and ‘official’ priorities in medical interviews. In Morris, G. & R. Cheneil (eds.) Talk of the clinic: 259-289. Lawrence Erlbaum. Google Scholar
Beach, W.A., & A.K. Lindstrom
1992 Conversational universals and comparative theory: Turning to Swedish and American acknowledgement tokens-in-interaction. Communication Theory 2: 24-49. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beattie, G.W
1978 Floor apportionment and gaze in conversational dyads. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 17: 7-16. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bennett, M. , & J. Jarvis
1991 The communicative function of minimal responses in everyday conversation. Journal of Social Psychology 131(4): 519-23. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Birdwhistell, R.L
1962 Critical moments in the psychiatric interview. In T.T. Tourlentes (ed.) Research approaches to a psychiatric problem: 179-188. Grune & Stratton. Google Scholar
Blum-Kulka, S., J. House & G. Kasper
(eds.) 1989 Cross-cultural pragmatics. Ablex.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Brunner, L.J
1979 Smiles can be back channels. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 37: 728-734. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Clancy, P.M
1982 Written and spoken style in Japanese narratives. In D. Tannen (ed.) Spoken and written language: 55-76. Ablex. Google Scholar
Clancy, P.M., S.A. Thompson , R. Suzuki & H. Tao
1996 The conversational use of reactive tokens in English, Japanese, and Mandarin. Journal of Pragmatics 26: 355-87. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Condon, S.L
1986 The discourse functions of OK. Semiotica 60: 73-101. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cutrone, P
2005 A case study examining backchannels in conversations between Japanese-British dyads. Multilingua 2: 237-274. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Deng, X
2008 The use of listener responses in Mandarin Chinese and Australian English conversations. Pragmatics: The Quarterly Journal of the International Pragmatics Association 18(2): 303-328.  BoP DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dittmann, A.T
1973 Style in conversation. Semiotica 3: 241-271. Google Scholar
Dittmann, A.T. & L.G. Llewellyn
1967 The phonemic clause as a unit of speech decoding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 6: 341-8. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1968 Relationship between vocalizations and head nods as listener responses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 9: 79-84. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Drummond, K. & R. Hopper
1993a Backchannels revisited: Acknowledgement tokens and speakership incipiency. Research on Language and Social Interaction 26: 157-177. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1993b yeah. Research on Language and Social Interaction 26: 203-212. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1993c Acknowledgment tokens in series. Communication Reports 6(1): 47-53. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Duncan, S
1972 Some signals and rules for taking speaking turns in conversations. Journal of Personality and social Psychology 23: 283-292. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
1973 Toward a grammar for dyadic conversation. Semiotica 9: 29-46. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
1974 On the structure of speaker-auditor interaction during speaking turns. Language in Society 2: 161-180. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Duncan, S. & D. Fiske
1977 Face-to-face interaction: Research, methods, and theory. Lawrence Erlbaum.  BoPGoogle Scholar
1985 Interaction structure and strategy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar
Duncan, S. & G. Niederehe
1974 On signalling that it’s your turn to speak. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 10: 234-47. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Edelsky, C
1981 Who’s got the floor? Language in Society 10: 383-421. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Fishman, P
1978 Interaction: The work women do. Social Problems 24: 397-406. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Fries, C.G
1952 The Structure of English. Harcourt Brace. Google Scholar
Gardner, R
1997a The conversation object mm: A weak and variable acknowledging token. Research on Language and Social Interaction 30(2): 131-156. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
1997b The listener and minimal responses in conversational interaction. Prospect 12(2): 12-32. Google Scholar
1998 Between speaking and listening: The vocalisation of understanding. Applied Linguistics 19(2): 204-224. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
2001 When listeners talk: Response tokens and listener stance. Benjamins. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
2007 Right. Language in Society 36: 319-341. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Goodwin, C
1986 Between and within: Alternative sequential treatments of continuers and assessments. Human Studies 9: 205-217. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gumperz, J.J
1982 Discourse strategies. Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Günthner, S
1993 German-Chinese interactions: Differences in contextualization conventions and resulting miscommunication. Pragmatics: The Quarterly Journal of the International Pragmatics Association 3(3): 283-304. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Hayashi, R
1988 Simultaneous talk: From the perspective of floor management of English and Japanese speakers. World Englishes 7(3): 269-288. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1990 Rhythmicity, sequence and syncrony of English and Japanese face-to-face conversation. Language Sciences 12(2/3): 155-195. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1991 Floor structure of English and Japanese conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 16(1): 1-30. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Hayashi, T. & R. Hayashi
1991 Back channel or main channel: A cognitive approach based on floor and speech acts. Pragmatics and Language Learning Monograph Series 2: 119-138Google Scholar
Heritage, J
1984 A change-of-state token and aspects of its sequential placement. In M. Atkinson & J. Heritage (eds.), Structures of social action: Studies in conversation analysis: 299-345. Cambridge University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Hinds, J
1978 Conversational structure: An investigation based on Japanese interview discourse. In J. Hinds & I. Howard (eds.), Problems in Japanese syntax and semantics: 79-121. Kaitakusha. Google Scholar
Hirokawa, K
1995 The expressions of culture in the conversational styles of Japanese and Americans. Unpublished PhD Thesis, The University of Michigan. Google Scholar
Hirschman, L
1973 Female-male differences in conversational interaction. Paper given at annual meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, San Diego, California. (Later published in Language in Society 23: 427–42. [1994]). DOI logo  BoP
Holmes, J
1995 Women, men and politeness. Longman.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Jefferson, G
1983 Two explorations of the organization of overlapping talk in conversation: Notes on some orderlinesses of overlap onset. Tilburg Papers in Language and Literature No.28. Google Scholar
1984 Notes on a systematic deployment of the ackowledgement tokens ‘yeah’ and ‘Mm hm’. Papers in Linguistics 17: 197-216. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1993 Caveat speaker: Preliminary notes on recipient topic-shift implicature. Research on Language and Social Interaction 26: 1-30. (Original work published 1983). DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Kendon, A
1967 Some functions of gaze direction in social interaction. Acta Psychologica 26: 22-63. (Reprinted in A. Kendon (1990) Conducting interaction: Patterns of behavior in focused encounters: 51–8. Cambridge University Press.). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kollock, P. , P. Blumstein & P. Schwartz
1985 Sex and power in interaction: Conversational privileges and duties. American Sociological Review 50: 34-46. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Krauss, R.M. & S. Weinheimer
1966 Concurrent feedback, confirmation, and the encoding of referents in verbal interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 4: 342-346. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kraut, R.E. , S.H. Lewis & L.W. Swezey
1982 Listener responsiveness and the coordination of conversation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 43(4): 718-731. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leavitt, H.J. & R.A.H. Mueller
1951 Some effects of feedback on communication. Human Relations 4: 401-410. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lebra, T.S
1976 Japanese patterns of behavior. University of Hawaii Press. Google Scholar
Leet-Pellegrini, H.M
1980 Conversational dominance as a function of gender and expertise. In H. Giles , W.P. Robinson & P.M. Smith (eds.), Language: Social psychological perspectives: 97-104. Pergamon Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lehtonen, J. & K. Sajavaara
1985 The silent Finn. In D. Tannen & M. Saville-Troike (eds.), Perspective on silence: 193-201. Ablex. Google Scholar
Li, H.Z
2006 Backchannel responses as misleading feedback in intercultural discourse. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research 35(2): 99-116. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Locastro, V
1987 Aizuchi. In L.E. Smith (ed.) Discourse across cultures: 101-113. New York: Prentice Hall. Google Scholar
Makri-Tsilipakou, M
1994 Interruption revisited: Affiliative vs. disaffiliative intervention. Journal of Pragmatics 21: 401-426. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Marche, T.A. & C. Peterson
1993 On the gender fifferential use of listener responsiveness. Sex Roles 29(11/12): 795-816. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maynard, S.K
1986 On back-channel behavior in Japanese and English casual conversation. Linguistics 24(6/286): 1079-1108. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1987 Interactional functions of a nonverbal sign: Head movement in Japanese dyadic conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 11: 589-606. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1989 Japanese conversation: Self-contextualization through structure and interactional management. Ablex. Google Scholar
1990 Conversation management in contrast: Listener response in Japanese and American English. Journal of Pragmatics 14: 397-412. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1997 Analyzing interactional management in native/non-native English conversation: A case of listener response. IRAL XXXV(1): 37-60. Google Scholar
Mccarthy, M
2003 Talking back: ‘Small” interactional response tokens in everyday conversation. Research on Language and Social Interaction 36(1): 33-63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Merritt, M
1984 On the use of ‘O.K.’ in service encounters. In J. Baugh & J. Scherzer (eds.) Language in use: 139-147. Prentice-Hall. Google Scholar
Miller, L.C., R.E. Lechner & D. Rugs
1985 Development of conversational responsiveness: Preschoolers’ use of responsive listener cues and relevant comments. Developmental Psychology 21: 473-480. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mizutani, N
1982 The listener’s response in Japanese conversation. Sociolinguistics Newsletter 13(1): 33-38. Google Scholar
Nordenstam, K
1992 Male and female conversational style. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 94: 75-98. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pillet-Shore, D
2003 Doing “Okay”: On the multiple metrics of an assessment. Research on Language and Social Interaction 36(3): 285–319. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Roger, D. & W. Nesshoever
1987 Individual differences in dyadic conversational strategies: A further study. British Journal of Social Psychology 26: 247-255. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Roger, D.B. & A. Schumacher
1983 Effects of individual differences on dyadic conversational strategies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 45(3): 700-705. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rosenfeld, H,m
1966 Approval-seeking and approval-inducing functions of verbal and nonverbal responses in the dyad. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 6: 597-605. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rosenfeld, H.M
1967 Nonverbal reciprocation of approval: An experimental analyses. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 3: 102-111. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sacks, H., E.A. Schegloff & G. Jefferson
1974 A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language 50: 696-735. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Schegloff, E.A
1968 Sequencing in conversational openings. American Anthropologist 70(6): 1075-95. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
1979 Identification and recognition in telephone conversation openings. In G. Psathas (ed.) Everyday language: Studies in ethnomethodology: 23-78. Irvington.  BoPGoogle Scholar
1982 Discourse as an interactional achievement: Some uses of ‘uh huh’ and other things that come between sentences. In D. Tannen (ed.), Analyzing discourse: Text and talk (Georgetown University Round Table on Language and Linguistics 1981): 71-93. Georgetown University Press. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Schegloff, E.A. & H. Sacks
1973 Opening up closings. Semiotica 7: 289-327. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Stubbe, M
1998 Are you listening? Cultural influences on the use of supportive verbal feedback in conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 29: 257-289. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Tao, H. & S.A. Thompson
1991 English backchannels in Mandarin conversations: a case study of superstratum pragmatic ‘interference.’ Journal of Pragmatics 16(3): 209-233. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Tannen, D
1984 Conversational style: Analyzing talk among friends. Ablex.  BoPGoogle Scholar
1990 You just don’t understand: Women and men in conversation. William Morrow.  BoPGoogle Scholar
Tottie, G
1991 Conversational style in British and American English: The case of backchannels. In K. Aijmer & B. Altenberg (eds.), English corpus linguistics: Studies in honour of Jan Svartvik: 254-335. Longman. Google Scholar
Trimboli, C. & M.B. Walker
1984 Switching pauses in cooperative and competitive interactions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 20: 297-311. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Valentine, T
1986 Language and power: Cross-sex communicative strategies in Hindi and Indian English. Economic and Political Weekly 21: 75-87. Google Scholar
Vogel, J., S.P. Keane & J.C. Conger
1988 A content analysis of the conversational behavior of accepted and rejected children. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment 10: 49-64. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Walker, M.B. & C. Trimboli
1984 The role of nonverbal signals in co-ordinating speaking turns. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 3(4): 257-272. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ward, N., & Tsukahara, W
2000 Prosodic features which cue back-channel responses in English and Japanese. Journal of Pragmatics 32: 1177-1207. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Wiemann, J.M. & M.L. Knapp
1975 Turn-taking in conversations. Journal of Communication 25: 75-92. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
White, R
1997 Back channelling, repair, pausing, and private speech. Applied Linguistics 18(3): 314-343. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
White, S
1989 Backchannels across cultures: A study of Americans and Japanese. Language in Society 18: 59-76. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Wieland, M
1991 Turn-taking structure as a source of misunderstanding in French-American cross-cultural conversation. Pragmatics and Language Learning Monograph Series 2: 101-118. Google Scholar
Wilson, T.P., J.M. Wiemann & D.H. Zimmerman
1984 Models of turn taking in conversational interaction. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 3(4): 159-183. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yamada, H
1989 American and Japanese topic management strategies in business meetings. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Georgetown University. Google Scholar
Yngve, V.H
1970 On getting a word in edgewise. Papers from the Sixth Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society: 567-577. Chicago Linguistic Society. Google Scholar
Young, R.F. & J. Lee
2004 Identifying units in interaction: Reactive tokens in Korean and English conversations. Journal of Sociolinguistics 8(3): 380-407. DOI logo  BoPGoogle Scholar
Zimmerman, D.H
1993 Acknowledgement tokens and speakership incipiency revisited. Research on Language and Social Interaction 26: 179-194. DOI logoGoogle Scholar