Types of Backchannelling in Dialogues of Modern English Fiction

Abstract

This master thesis is focused on the types of backchannelling in the dialogues of modern English fiction. The theoretical part introduces the genre of conversation, describes its structure and main principles and examines conversational language. In addition, the concept of backchannelling is defined and a list of backchannel forms and functions is provided. The aim of the practical part is to analyse the occurrence of different types of backchannelling in the dialogues of modern English fiction. The findings of the analysis are compared and contrasted with the findings of the analysis of authentic conversation in order to discover the similarities and differences in the use of backchannels between both genres.