The Backchannels on English as a Foreign Language Teaching

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate; the types of backchannels and why the research participants in this study used backchannels in their classroom interaction. A case study involving a female lecturer and a female selected student met the criteria. The data were gathered from the research participants in the form of observation and interviews. This study revealed that (1) the types of backchannels used by the participants in the classroom interactions were backchannels vocal and backchannels silent. The backchannels vocal consisted of words form, phrases form, sentences form, and sounds identification; meanwhile, the backchannel silent concerned on head nods, the facial expression of the smile, gestural signal, and eyes movement; (2) the reasons why the participants uttered and produced both backchannel vocal and backchannel silent were to show the continuers signal, the statements signal, the social conditions, and the emotional signal.