How listeners show engagement in conversation in German, Italian, and second-language speech

What is it about?

This paper investigates how people show that they are actively listening in conversation by using short spoken signals like "yes" or "uh-huh", which are called backchannels. It compares how native German speakers, native Italian speakers, and Italian learners of German use backchannels in dialogues. The study analyses backchannel rate, length, intonation and word choice, and examines how backchannels are used to manage turn-taking in conversation. The results show that learners often carry over their individual backchannel habits from their first language into their second language, largely independent of second-language proficiency. We found that the production of listener signals is highly variable across individuals and languages.

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Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Misunderstandings in conversation are likely to occur when speakers come from different cultural and language backgrounds. Even short spoken signals like backchannels, which often go unnoticed, can actually affect communication in significant ways as they signal engagement and active listening and are subject to culture-specific norms and expectations. This study highlights that target-language backchannels do not seemed to by acquired by learners in foreign language classes. Thus, teaching these listening behaviours explicitly could help second-language learners communicate more naturally, and thereby help avoid misunderstandings or negative judgements.

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