Japanese women's listening behavior in face-to-face conversation: The use of reactive tokens and nods

The present study examines Japanese women's use of reactive tokens (Clancy et al. 1996) in Japanese face-to-face conversation and perception of other's listening behavior in relation to the social variables of age and conversation styles (formal and informal). Reactive tokens (RTs) examined in the present study are 8 verbal RTs such as backchannels, reactive expressions, and laughter and 1 non-verbal RTs, nods.; The investigation is based on a quantitative analysis of formal and informal conversation data from 30 participants and qualitative data of participant interview. The perception is examined based on the ratings of 5 different listening behaviors in videos and interview. The findings show that the use of RTs was influenced by age and conversation styles but that perception does not vary according to age.; Age influences the proportion of nods and verbal RTs in the formal conversation. The younger participants use more nods and fewer verbal RTs than do older participants when there is difference in power between a speaker and a listener. In the informal conversation, there is not age-graded effect in the use of verbal RTs and nods but 3 common interaction styles by all age groups are identified.; The variation of listening behavior in the present study is explained by 'multidimensional model' (Tannen 1993a) in which 4 social contexts are defined by power and solidarity between participants.; The follow-up interview and the results of perception study revealed that the perception of other's listening behavior may not vary according to perceivers' age. Participants perceived the one which is closest to their own performance in informal conversation most natural in the present study. This confirms Hymes's notion of 'Speech community' (1974) that members of a speech community share norms.; Findings of the present study suggest that nods are used as RTs as a strategy to mitigate face threatening acts (Brown and Levinson 1987). In Japanese women's face-to-face conversation, social variables of age and conversation styles play important roles in the choice of an appropriate listening behavior in the contexts.