7. System of conversation — Gaze direction and back channel

“In any society, whenever the physical possibility ofspoken interaction arises, it seems that a system ofpractices, conventions, and procedural rules comes intoplay which functions as a means of guiding and organizingthe flow of messages.”[Goffman 1955, p. 226]
“Just as it is desirable to avoid bumping into people on thestreet, it is desirable to avoid in conversations aninordinate amount of simultaneous talking.”[Duncan 1972]

  1. The role of gaze direction in turn taking [Kendon 1967]
  2. Back-channel [Yngve 1970]

PPT
Available only for registered students.
References

  • [Kendon 1967] Adam Kendon. Some Functions of Gaze-direction in Social Interaction, Acta Psychologica 26 (1967) 22-63.
  • [Yngve 1970] Yngve, V. On getting a word in edgewise. 6th Chicago Linguistic Society, 567-578, 1970.