Techniques for Turn-Taking in Finger Braille Conversation: How Do Deafblind People Initiate the Next Turn?

Abstract

In this study, quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed to examine turn-taking in conversations between deafblind people using finger braille. The quantitative analysis measured the interval between the moment the speaker began lowering their hands and the moment the recipient began raising theirs. The results revealed that turn transitions tended to occur within 0.4 s, with the explicit completion of a sentence enabling rapid initiation of the next turn. The qualitative analysis considered cases of rapid turn-taking despite the absence of sentence completion. Our investigation of how deafblind people link their actions through contact between their hands and fingers showed that turn-taking arises in the process of resolving misunderstandings, detected through the comprehension of prior turns. The contribution of unique cues, such as question marks or hand movements accompanying nods, to the shared understanding of individual turns was also demonstrated.