A Gender-Based Critical Discourse Analysis of Persian Backchanneling Responses on Narrations

Backchannel responses, the short comments and signals people produce while talking to someone else without the attempt to take the floor from the main speaker, have long been under the study of many scholarly researchers. Also the effect of gender on language use has been drawing attention to itself for a while. The study of backchannel responses based on gender differences, on the other hand, is something new and not much has been done on this topic. Accordingly the current study explores the differences of backchannel responses forms, functions, and turn takings based on gender differences on a narration in Persian context. A total number of 20 participants, each gender consist of 10 members, of different age groups and job positions were randomly chosen to participate in the study. The necessary data was obtained through audio recordings and afterwards transcriptions. The results suggested that men used more backchannel responses in comparison to women. It was also revealed that both groups had similarities in the use of mostly used functions, the form of their backchannel responses and their turn takings. The findings of this study can help reduce the miscommunications or misunderstandings across gender boundaries and gain insights into how men and women communicate.

Keywords:

Backchannel responses , Gender , form , function , turn