One Does Not Simply 'Mm-hmm': Exploring Backchanneling in the AAC Micro-Culture
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866915354779844608 |
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| author | Weinberg, Tobias O'Connor, Claire Penuela, Ricardo E. Gonzalez Valencia, Stephanie Roumen, Thijs |
| author_facet | Weinberg, Tobias O'Connor, Claire Penuela, Ricardo E. Gonzalez Valencia, Stephanie Roumen, Thijs |
| contents | Backchanneling (e.g., "uh-huh", "hmm", a simple nod) encompasses a big part of everyday communication; it is how we negotiate the turn to speak, it signals our engagement, and shapes the flow of our conversations. For people with speech and motor impairments, backchanneling is limited to a reduced set of modalities, and their Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) technology requires visual attention, making it harder to observe non-verbal cues of conversation partners. We explore how users of AAC technology approach backchanneling and create their own unique channels and communication culture. We conducted a workshop with 4 AAC users to understand the unique characteristics of backchanneling in AAC. We explored how backchanneling changes when pairs of AAC users communicate vs when an AAC user communicates with a non-AAC user. We contextualize these findings through four in-depth interviews with speech-language pathologists (SLPs). We conclude with a discussion about backchanneling as a micro-cultural practice, rethinking embodiment and mediation in AAC technology, and providing design recommendations for timely multi-modal backchanneling while respecting different communication cultures. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_17890 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | One Does Not Simply 'Mm-hmm': Exploring Backchanneling in the AAC Micro-Culture Weinberg, Tobias O'Connor, Claire Penuela, Ricardo E. Gonzalez Valencia, Stephanie Roumen, Thijs Human-Computer Interaction Backchanneling (e.g., "uh-huh", "hmm", a simple nod) encompasses a big part of everyday communication; it is how we negotiate the turn to speak, it signals our engagement, and shapes the flow of our conversations. For people with speech and motor impairments, backchanneling is limited to a reduced set of modalities, and their Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) technology requires visual attention, making it harder to observe non-verbal cues of conversation partners. We explore how users of AAC technology approach backchanneling and create their own unique channels and communication culture. We conducted a workshop with 4 AAC users to understand the unique characteristics of backchanneling in AAC. We explored how backchanneling changes when pairs of AAC users communicate vs when an AAC user communicates with a non-AAC user. We contextualize these findings through four in-depth interviews with speech-language pathologists (SLPs). We conclude with a discussion about backchanneling as a micro-cultural practice, rethinking embodiment and mediation in AAC technology, and providing design recommendations for timely multi-modal backchanneling while respecting different communication cultures. |
| title | One Does Not Simply 'Mm-hmm': Exploring Backchanneling in the AAC Micro-Culture |
| topic | Human-Computer Interaction |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.17890 |