Insights into interaction management through backchannels

Abstract

This paper analyzes backchannel signals in two signed languages: French Belgian Sign Language (LSFB) and Catalan Sign Language (LSC). While backchannels have been extensively studied in spoken languages, their documentation across signed languages remains sparse in comparison. This study investigates how backchannels operate in signed language interaction, focusing on their forms and articulatory types within and across LSFB and LSC conversations. The data comprise face-to-face video recordings of twenty-four deaf participants (twelve per language). Backchannels were identified and annotated based on prior typologies for coding multimodal backchannels in

. The study offers a descriptive account of backchannel use in both languages and presents qualitative analyses of key selected examples. The findings reveal compelling commonalities in the forms of backchannels between both languages, particularly the prominent role of nonmanuals. Ultimately, these findings further support the inclusion of these interactional phenomena as essential components of language.