Glossary

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Active Listening(also: Attentive Listening)

A communication technique where the listener fully concentrates on, understands, and responds to a speaker, demonstrating engagement through verbal and non-verbal feedback. Active listening behaviors include maintaining eye contact, nodding, providing verbal acknowledgments,…

Backchanneling(also: Backchannel, Listener Feedback, Active Listening Signals)

The verbal and non-verbal signals that listeners produce during conversation to indicate engagement, understanding, agreement, or encouragement without taking a full speaking turn. Backchanneling includes utterances like "uh-huh," "mm-hmm," "yeah," and "right," as well as…

Conversational Flow(also: Dialogue Flow, Conversation Rhythm)

The natural rhythm and progression of a conversation, including the smooth exchange of turns, timely responses, appropriate pauses, and coherent topic development. Conversational flow depends on both partners' ability to produce and perceive turn-taking cues, backchanneling…

Floor Holding(also: Holding the Floor, Turn Holding)

The conversational practice of maintaining one's turn to speak, signaling to others that one has not finished and intends to continue. For AAC users, floor holding is particularly challenging because the time required to compose messages creates long pauses that communication…

Listener Feedback(also: Listener Response, Feedback Signals)

The signals produced by a listener during conversation that communicate their attentiveness, understanding, agreement, confusion, or emotional response to the speaker without taking a full conversational turn. Listener feedback encompasses verbal backchanneling ("mm-hmm,"…

Turn Taking(also: Conversational Turn-Taking, Turn-Taking)

The pragmatic skill of alternating speaking and listening roles during conversation, including knowing when to speak, how long to speak, and how to signal readiness to yield or take a turn. Turn taking is a fundamental component of social communication that children typically…

Turn-Taking(also: Conversational Turn-Taking, Floor Management)

The process by which speakers in a conversation negotiate who speaks when, managing transitions between speakers through verbal and non-verbal cues. Turn-taking involves recognizing when a speaker is finishing, signaling desire to speak, and yielding the floor to others. In AAC…

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