The production of weak continuers is a vital yet under-researched component of interactional competence within discourse marker (DM) research. This study investigates the intersection of language immersion and sociocultural transfer by examining the active listening behaviors in three distinct cohorts: Korean high-level EFL learners with no abroad residence experience (NA), Korean learners with significant immersion in English-speaking environments (A), and native English speakers (N). Utilizing an information-exchange and a decision-making task, the research analyzes the frequency and pragmatic functioning of vocalic tokens (mmm, mm-hmm, uh-huh). Findings indicate that the NA group produced a significantly higher volume of tokens (45.1%), reflecting a sociocultural "supportive burden" transferred from L1 Korean norms. In contrast, the N and A groups demonstrated a more streamlined interactional style, prioritizing targeted "go-ahead" signals over passive recipiency. Crucially, the A group exhibited a "pruning" effect, where prolonged exposure to native-speaker norms facilitated a recalibration of listener behavior toward target-language benchmarks. Furthermore, task complexity acted as a pragmatic filter; learners significantly reduced feedback under high cognitive loads, whereas native speakers maintained interactional stability. These results offer insights into the developmental trajectory of L2 listenership and suggest pedagogical strategies for fostering interactional fluency.

Abstract
1. INTRODUCTION
2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
    2.1. Defining Backchannels and Response Tokens
    2.2. A Taxonomy of Weak Continuers
    2.3. Interactional Burden and Backchannel Production inAsian EFL Contexts
    2.4 Pedagogical Tasks as a Context for Interactional Competence
3. METHODOLOGY
    3.1. Participants
    3.2. Procedure
    3.3. Data Analysis
    3.4. Statistical Analysis of the Data
4. RESULTS
    4.1. Overview of Continuer Distribution
    4.2. Interactional Volume and the Supportive Burden
    4.3. Functional Preference: From Passive to Active Weak Continuers
    4.4 Task Complexity and Pragmatic Pruning
5. DISCUSSION
    5.1 Frequency and the Supportive Burden
    5.2. Pragmatic Functioning: Passive vs. Active Listenership
6. CONCLUSION
    6.1. Pedagogical Implications
    6.2. Limitations
    6.3. Future Research Directions
REFERENCES
APPENDIX 1
APPENDIX 2

• Andrew White(Associate Professor, Business English Department, Induk University; 12 Choansan-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul)