The Social Layer of Dialogue: Signals, Strategies, and Systems

• Event: Seminar
• Presented by: Alafate Abulimiti from Sorbonne Université (ISIR/UPMC)
• Date: 01 October 2025
• Time: 13:15-15:00
• Venue: Gothenburg University, Humanisten and online
• Address: Renströmsgatan 6, 412 55 Göteborg
• Room: J411
• Zoom link: https://gu-se.zoom.us/j/67063108947?pwd=kPpjvMLCekxNTBVzq4uYP5gFZ6Y6vd.1
• Slides:

Abstract

Dialogue is not only a vehicle for information exchange; it is also a social phenomenon that supports joint activity. Building on accounts of language as sustaining social bonds, this talk argues that effective interaction depends on a social layer of strategies (e.g., rapport moves, politeness/hedging, repair) and signals (e.g., gaze, laughter, backchannels) that structure participation. Evidence from real-time educational collaboration shows how off-task talk and hedging, together with multimodal cues, shape coordination, face management, and learning. The talk then sketches implications for human–agent settings: agents that are capable of social repair and socially aware can interleave social behavior with task progress to potentially improve outcomes. Overall, it motivates the social layer of interaction as a key design variable for both human conversation and socially skilled dialogue systems.