COMMUNICATION IN THE BACK-CHANNEL: SOCIAL STRUCTURAL ANALYSES OF NONSPEECH/SPEECH CONVERSATIONS (AUGMENTATIVE COMMUNICATION, DISCOURSE ANALYSIS).
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Title
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COMMUNICATION IN THE BACK-CHANNEL: SOCIAL STRUCTURAL ANALYSES OF NONSPEECH/SPEECH CONVERSATIONS (AUGMENTATIVE COMMUNICATION, DISCOURSE ANALYSIS).
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Identifier
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AAI8629674
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identifier
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8629674
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Creator
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BLAU, ANDREA F.
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Contributor
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John Dore
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Date
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1986
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Speech Communication
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Abstract
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Six nonspeaking individuals, who augmented their residual vocal skills with alphabet/word boards, were videorecorded during conversations with six familiar speaking partners. It was hypothesized that the interactional dynamics which shaped these encounters were heavily influenced by explicit feedback activity. A descriptive methodology was developed to identify back-channel communications across these dyads. Five listener feedback signals (Restatement Back-Channels, Expansion Back-Channels, Query Back-Channels, Correction Back-Channels and Acknowledgment Back-Channels) and one speaker feedback signal (Back-Back-Channels) were identified as discrete back-channel types.;Back-channel communication was found to play a primary role within these conversations. All of the nonspeakers' complex conversational contributions were co-produced with their speaking partners. Main-channel/back-channel contingency was the principal mechanism for conversational act co-construction. The nonspeakers' "ownership" of the conversational floor during message co-construction was never challenged. All of the speaking partners' contributions, during co-constructed act contexts, were feedback forms which they produced in their roles as active listeners. Retaining the conversational floor, however, was much more difficult for the nonspeakers following complex message transmission. Structural features of the conversational mechanism appeared to influence early turn transfer at context transitional junctures.;Speaker main-channel contribution, auditor back-channel response, explicit or implicit speaker back-back-channel signal and speaker main-channel continuation was confirmed as the basic interactional unit organizing the participants' contributions. These highly cohesive sequences were part of the basic organizational structure of these conversations. Their explicit use within these nonspeech/speech interactions, shaped the participants' social encounter. The quality of the interactional sequence, when initiated by the nonspeakers, appeared to be much sturdier during co-constructed contexts than across whole act exchanges.;Interactional style influenced dyadic performance within this organizational structure. Style was manifested as active negotiation by the participants. Social roles provided participants with a framework for acceptable interaction styles. A continuum of interaction styles ranging from casual to constrained was identified across these six dyad pairs.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Speech & Hearing
