Forms and Functions of Backchannels among Participants in Thai News Interview Programs
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Abstract
Backchannels support and show interest in the speaking turn of the current speaker. In a Thai news interview program, participants in conflict situations must pay attention to each other's speaking turns. This is important as it demonstrates how the participants interact within the program. This article aims to study the forms and functions of backchannels used by participants in Thai news interview programs to indicate active listening. Data were collected from 25 episodes of Thai news interviews, totaling 1,022.28 minutes. Each episode includes
1 interviewer, 2 interviewees, and an expert. The verbal data obtained from the interview programs were transcribed into written language using Jefferson's (1979) analysis code guide. The researcher analyzed the data using the conversation analysis framework, as well as the frameworks for backchannels. The study identified six forms of backchannels used by participants to indicate active listening, which were: 1) short utterances, 2) responding,
3) affirmatives, 4) directives, 5) short questions, and 6) interjections. The functions of these backchannels were identified as follows: 1) facilitating continuation, 2) demonstrating understanding, 3) expressing agreement, 4) recalling information, 5) confirming information,
6) conveying emotional attitudes, 7) providing support, 8) indicating uncertainty, 9) signal to conclude the speaking turn, and 10) expressing disinterest. The results showed that interviewers used backchannels indicating active listening to encourage ongoing conversation, while interviewees and experts used backchannels to demonstrate agreement and confirm the interviewer's turns. Additionally, interviewees used backchannels to convey emotional attitudes towards each other's turns. It was also found that interviewees in the Thai news interview program used backchannel words without paying attention to the utterance of the participants who was speaking, and were ready to change turns to speak themselves.
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