TY - JOUR
T1 - Gaze Direction Signals Response Preference in Conversation
AU - Kendrick, Kobin H
AU - Holler, Judith
N1 - © 2017 Taylor & Francis. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.
PY - 2017/2/3
Y1 - 2017/2/3
N2 - In this article, we examine gaze direction in responses to polar questions using both quantitative and conversation analytic (CA) methods. The data come from a novel corpus of conversations in which participants wore eye- tracking glasses to obtain direct measures of their eye movements. The results show that while most preferred responses are produced with gaze toward the questioner, most dispreferred responses are produced with gaze aversion. We further demonstrate that gaze aversion by respondents can occasion self-repair by questioners in the transition space between turns, indicating that the relationship between gaze direction and preference is more than a mere statistical association. We conclude that gaze direction in responses to polar questions functions as a signal of response preference. Data are in American, British, and Canadian English.
AB - In this article, we examine gaze direction in responses to polar questions using both quantitative and conversation analytic (CA) methods. The data come from a novel corpus of conversations in which participants wore eye- tracking glasses to obtain direct measures of their eye movements. The results show that while most preferred responses are produced with gaze toward the questioner, most dispreferred responses are produced with gaze aversion. We further demonstrate that gaze aversion by respondents can occasion self-repair by questioners in the transition space between turns, indicating that the relationship between gaze direction and preference is more than a mere statistical association. We conclude that gaze direction in responses to polar questions functions as a signal of response preference. Data are in American, British, and Canadian English.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85011629240&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/08351813.2017.1262120
DO - 10.1080/08351813.2017.1262120
M3 - Article
SN - 0835-1813
VL - 50
SP - 12
EP - 32
JO - Research on Language and Social Interaction
JF - Research on Language and Social Interaction
IS - 1
ER -