MAKING A TRANSCRIPT

Gordon Wells

  

Transcribing the Tape

Generally speaking, it is sufficient to transcribe using standard spelling and punctuation with one or two additional conventions. I have found the following convenient:

• Write or type on alternate lines.

• Number utterances consecutively for easy reference. 

• Start each new utterance on a new line and indent all subsequent lines within the same utterance.

• Identify speakers by sufficient letters of name to avoid ambiguity. In case of unknown speakers, number them to allow identification, e.g. C1, C2, etc.

• Show incomplete utterances or false starts with a hyphen, e.g. 'Well- er- '

• Indicate pauses by one or more periods with a space on either side. The number of periods should correspond to the number of seconds of pause, e.g. 'Yes .. I do'. In the case of long pauses, indicate length by numerals, e.g. 'Yes .6. I do'.

• Use '?' and '!' to mark interrogative and exclamatory intonation, respectively.

• Use upper case for emphasis, e.g. 'I really LOVE painting'.

• When you are not completely sure that you have heard correctly, enclose the words about which you are uncertain in < >.

• When you cannot make out what was said at all, put ‘x’ for each word you judge to have been spoken e.g. 'I'll go and xxxx'.

• When two speakers speak at once, write their utterances in consecutive turns and underline the overlapping portion of each utterance.

• Type quotations or passages read aloud in italics.

• Where you judge it will be helpful, give your interpretation of what was said or the way in which it was said in parentheses, e.g. (referring to picture ).  It is also helpful to include information about the context and accompanying behavior in the same way. Make sure that you put all such information in parentheses [   ] so that it is not mistaken for what was actually spoken.

If you are going to carry out analysis on the transcript, it may be helpful to keep the transcribed speech on the left half of the page only. This will leave room to enter corresponding analytic information on the right half of the page.

Sample Transcript

Below is an extract from a recording of three five-year-olds engaged in imaginary play. Transcript A contains only the words spoken. Transcript B is a fuller version, which contains information about the context and the non-verbal behavior. As you will see, it is easier to understand the version that contains the additional information.

Transcript A

S: Now you have to live on your boat

D: 'Tend it was put down like that

J: Why? Why do we?

S: 'Cos there was no room for you

J: Pretend we was sending boats back

S: No that's our boat . that's our boat

J: No but pretend we was sav- saving them back so people could get um

That was your fault

S: OK we're living on here . oh we'll die!

D: We- we've got all the luggage . I'm going to sleep

All our luggage is- is- **

  One of er- one of our boy-friends is crying in a corner

  Pretend one of the- the- their children was crying in a corner

S: Why was that?

D: It was because they didn't like being on the-

S: They didn't like being on land

D: - all squashed up did they?

S: No they didn't like being -

D: They went outside didn't they?

S: Yeh and they had to go out .. and it was poison on the sea and they had to die didn't they?

J: No they didn't . they got on this boat . they jumped on to there . They was good jumpers

Transcript B

Sam, John and David are playing with a varied set of play-peopIe and animals. David has a cardboard box: this is his 'base'. Sam aIso has his own territory: a wooden boat, on which he has a family of lions. All around is the sea - the playroom carpet. At this point in their play, John, who also has a boat and an assortment of play-people, is torn between joining David on his base or Sam on his boat. The problem is that neither base nor boat has sufficient room for all John's people.

(Utterances in italics are spoken in 'play' voices, appropriate to the characters concerned.)

01 S: [to J, to take his play people somewhere else] Now you have to live on your boat

02 D: [to self] 'Tend it was put down like that [arranging his base]

03 J: [to S] Why? why do we?

04 S: 'Cos there was no room for you (i.e. on his boat) [puts people, furniture, etc. into his base]

05 J: Pretend we was sending boats back [moves S's boat with the lions on]

06 S: (speaking as lions) No that's our boat. that's our boat

07 J: No but pretend we was sav- saving them back so people could get um[to D, who has got in the way] That was your fault

08 S: OK we're living on here (i.e. on boat)

09 Oh we'll die!

[J begins to put his people on D's base]

10 D: We- we've got all the luggage

11 I'm going to sleep (pretends to cry)

12 All our luggage is- is- **

13 One of er- one of our boy-friends is crying in a corner (pretends to cry)

14 Pretend one of the- the- their children was crying in a corner (pretends to cry)

15 S: Why was that?

16 D: It was because they didn't like being on the- (pretends to cry)

17 S: They didn't like being on land

18 D: - all squashed up did they? (i.e. on the base)

19 S: No they didn't like being-

20 D: They went outside didn't they?

21 S: Yeh and they had to go out .. and it was poison on the sea and they had to die didn't they?

22 J: No they didn't . they got on this boat (i.e. the lions' boat) . they jumped on to there

23 They was good jumpers

Other Relevant Evidence

In many classroom situations, the talk will be about a text. In such cases, it is crucial to include a photocopy of the relevant part of the printed or handwritten text (together with publication details where relevant), so that the utterances in the spoken text can be related to the portion of the written text that was being spoken about. Photographs may also be helpful, for example when the children are making a model or doing an experiment.

N.B. Remember, the analysis you subsequently make must be based on as much of the evidence that you have recorded as possible. So it pays to make your transcript as complete as possible.