This thesis aims at describing and discussing the discourse device of backchannels in British English. Exploring the general concept of backchannels, their use in ongoing conversation and their implementation into the theory of Functional Discourse Grammar forms the main body of this work. The design of this paper is split into two parts. The first part describes the iscourse device of backchannels. Reviewing past research, a typological profile concerning formal and functional features of backchannels is proposed. This typological profile then is transcribed into abstract representations in order to implement it into the theory of Functional Discourse Grammar. The second part revolves around describing the theory of Functional Discourse Grammar and the implementation of the proposed framework. The basic outline and conception of Functional Discourse Grammar will be explained, before two of the four levels, the so-called Interpersonal Level and Phonological Level will be presented in closer detail. Finally, the proposed frames for backchannels will be implemented into the framework of Functional Discourse Grammar. Afterwards the proposed framework will be tested against various examples taken from the BNC. Following the analysis of the data is a discussion on the device of backchannels itself, its implementation into the grammar model, as well as further implications and problems that arose during application. Lastly, the conclusion summarises the findings, while also providing an outlook for further research.