Download here transcription guidelines
Transcription guidelines
- Identify speakers by A, B, C or S1, S2, S3, or by names (real or made up)
- Number each line or even each clause – keep each line short
- Insert information about the context where necessary. (For example
S1 {looking at S3) What about you? You .. er .. what you gonna do?
- Transcribe every word, including non-words ( er .. umm) and pauses, exactly as you hear them.
- If you think it’s useful, transcribe words which are pronounced markedly differently from the dictionary form ( gonna .. see ya ).
- Do NOT correct any grammar errors ( I says him )
- Use conventional punctuation, spelling and so on where appropriate to make it easy to understand.
Some conventions:
[ overlapping turns
S1 I told him to … er … come and see me tomorrow
S2 [ what? you …
… short pause (about 1 second)
… … longer pause (and so on … for each second)
. micro pause
CAPS where a word or part of a word is noticeably stressed
S1 I WAS going to
S1 he sai:d he was coming
{ } contextual information
S1 {looking at S3)
(( )) when you are not sure that your transcription is correct
(( ? )) when you can’t hear – when it’s indecipherable
– when a word is cut short and the next word follows immediately
S1 I’m going- I WAS going to