Dual feedback in interpreter-mediated interactions: On the role of gaze in the production of listener responses

Abstract

This article examines the coordination of listener responses and gaze in the production of dual feedback in triadic interpreter-mediated interaction. The focus is on backchannel responses in turn-medial position accompanied by a gaze shift from the interpreter to the ‘principal’, through which the recipient displays a change in the epistemic stance and/or affiliation. The analyses draw on a data set of interpreter-mediated interactions (Dutch-Russian) that were recorded with mobile eye-tracking glasses. The study shows that, through the production of dual feedback, recipients in a triadic, interpreter-mediated talk display momentary orientation to the participation status and knowledge states of their interlocutors. It is also argued that dual feedback objectifies the double conversational ground between the primary interlocutors and the interpreter, and plays an important role in maintaining a triadic participation framework in an interpreter-mediated dialogue. The study relates dual feedback to the existing models of interpreting and discusses the significance of the analysis for the current understanding of multimodality in interpreter-mediated interaction.