You will have two projects for Discourse Analysis.

Discourse Analysis

Project #2: Audiotaping an informal conversation

Due Thursday, Feb. 22, 9:00am You will audiotape at least 10 minutes of a conversation between 2 men or 2 women who are close friends.  You cannot be a participant in the conversation.  Each step of this assignment is very important because we’re using technology!  Here are some considerations to keep in mind as you set up for this taping:

1. It’s best to audiotape the conversation in a comfortable environment; for example, the residence of one of the participants.
2. Consider offering to bring a snack and try to set up the room so that you have good results.  For example, your subjects should be seated so they can easily see each other, not side by side.
3. Record a little first and listen carefully for noise that will interfere with your understanding such as a loud fridge, heating system, music, nearby computer.  You may need to move to another space.
4. Place your tape recorder or mike in such a way that it is not the focal point for the participants.  You want them to have a natural conversation if possible.
5. Ask your participants to talk as they normally would.  You could suggest some topics if you like, such as what they want to do on the weekend, how their last seminar went, what they like and don’t like about Olympia, how they like your snack, etc.

 In order for your equipment to work well, you have to first make sure you get everything you need.  A good idea would be to work with a small group so that you can use the same equipment over the weekend, for example.  Of course, you have to trust each other with the equipment as whoever checks it out is responsible.  Here is your list:

1. It is best to use a small tape recorder.  Media Loan has digital ones that are useful because they capture sound well. On the other hand, they must be plugged in unless you buy a rechargeable battery.
2. If your tape recorder is large, use a sound grabber mike with a long cord. It doesn’t look like a mike, and yet captures sound well.
3. You need extra batteries if you plan to have a good range for recording.
4. You MUST check the tape recorder to make sure it is working before you leave media loan!  They ask you to check it, but for you it is vital to do so!
5. Buy an audio tape unless you’re using the digital tape recorder.

  After audiotaping, the goal is to transcribe one segment of the conversation of about 3 minutes and then analyze it.  We may have time for you to present your work to the class, so it is important to bring your audiotape to class.  Write your analysis focusing this time on the ways the speakers frame particular moments.  This framing is “what is going on.”  It can be a narrative, a speech act, a repair, a joke, for example.  What sorts of contextualization cues can you identify?  (See pp. 203-8 in Discourse Analysis).  Look for nonverbal behavior and prosodic cues besides those listed in your text.  Turn-taking, cohesion, gendered discourse, hedging, all the discourse elements we have been studying are important here.  If positive or negative face seems to be involved, for example, explain that. Organize your findings by briefly explaining what you discovered about framing, then illustrate that framing by inserting a transcription of those moments.  Finally, you should present your analysis clearly explaining what you saw and using the transcription as evidence.   The format for your paper is the following. Use each topic in bold in your paper and then explain.Methodology:  In 1-2 sentences explain the recording equipment you used and the setting.Analysis:  What did your participants talk about (topic)?  What was going on besides that?  Look at all the discourse elements we have been studying and identify those that contribute most to “what is going on” and explain the function of each, referring specifically to the line number.Conclusion:  What questions do you have after doing this analysis?  What could you do to find out more about the speech acts, politeness strategies, or turn-taking that you analyzed?Transcript:  Attach the transcript of your 3-minute segment using the same conventions as in Project I.  Be sure to number every line (not just the turns), so that referring to the exact place in the discourse in your analysis is clear to the reader. Transcription Conventions

• Always number every line.  In Word, go to Page Setup under “File.” Click on the tab “Layout.”  You will see “line numbering box.” Select it and then answer the questions.  (You can also number lines manually.)
• Indent 5 spaces and use a capital letter to indicate the speaker. 
• Capitalize the First word in the utterance.
• Use punctuation only as noted below.
• Try to be very accurate.

 

(0.5)                             Pause.  Number in parentheses indicates length in seconds.

(.)                                 Micropause – a slight hesitation (shorter than .2 seconds)

italics                           Stress.  Italicize the syllable or single syllable word that receives stress either by pitch or volume (you will also see underline used to indicate stress).

º                                   Talk within degree symbols is quieter than surrounding talk.

<  >                              Talk within is slower than surrounding talk.

>  <                              Talk within is faster than surrounding talk.

­                                  Noticeable rise in intonation

¯                                  Noticeable fall in intonation

[       ]                           Overlap.  Place the square brackets around the overlapped words and line them up so it is visually clear that there is an overlap

=                                  Latching.  At the end of one speaker’s turn and again at the beginning of the next speaker’s turn, = indicates that the second speaker begins talking immediately; it’s almost an overlap. (Also used to show that one speaker’s talk continues without break despite another speaker’s overlap.)

I-I-it                             hyphens indicate a false start

Uh, um                         “pause fillers”    -- be sure to write out.

Ye:::ah                          colons indicate a lengthened vowel

hh                                 breath sound

(   )                               inaudible

(talk)                            talk in parentheses is unclear, represents transcriber’s best guess

((laughs))                      use double parentheses for paralinguistic details and gestures if relevant

.                                   Use a period only if the intonation falls

?                                  Use a question mark only if the intonation rises

     

 

 

First Project: Due, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2007 

Your first project will be to present a discourse analysis of 2 minutes of conversation.  We will use an interview that is already transcribed, but you will work on this transcription so that it shows the detail of actual talk.

 

1.  Choose an interview on this site:  www.stanford.edu/group/howiwrite/conversationtranscripts.html

  You will notice that one interview is with Penny Eckert, one of the authors of your text Language and Gender. 

2.  Select a portion of the interview that has disagreement, several overlaps, a story, or a moment where something is going on such as negotiation of meaning, or negotiation of identity.

 

3.  Cut and paste 2 minutes of the transcript on the website onto your document.  Then, listen and watch the video streaming and put the conversation into the transcript form that we are using in our class.  This will require watching and listening to this small segment of talk over and over.  You may need to do this 10 times or more.  You are aiming for capturing all elements of the conversation to present a close transcription.  Use the Transcription Conventions attached to this assignment.

 

4.  Write an analysis of the segment that you have transcribed that is no more than 2 pages long.  To do this, find a section of the discourse that is interesting because of what is going on in your view.  This will be from 3-10 lines in length, most likely.  It is also possible that you will find two sections of the conversation to compare.  Explain what is going on and support your assertions by parsing the discourse linguistically, looking for discourse elements we have been studying: hedges, metaphor, turn-taking, silence, reported speech, a story, evidentials (adverbials like clearly).  Your aim here is to indicate your understanding of parsing, identifying discourse elements, and explaining their function.

 

5.  The assignment includes the analysis with the full transcript of 2 minutes attached.  Within the analysis, you should cite the lines that you find important by line number, and if necessary for clarity, you should cut and paste portions of the transcript into your analysis. 

 

  

Transcription ConventionsArt of Conversation 

There are many transcription conventions.  We will use a common one. 

• Always number every line.  In Word, go to Page Setup under “File.” Click on the tab “Layout.”  You will see “line numbering box.” Select it and then answer the questions.  (You can also number lines manually.)
• Indent 5 spaces and use a capital letter to indicate the speaker. 
• Capitalize the First word in the utterance.
• Use punctuation only as noted below.
• Try to be very accurate.

 

(0.5)                             Pause.  Number in parentheses indicates length in seconds.

(.)                                 Micropause – a slight hesitation (shorter than .2 seconds)

italics                           Stress.  Italicize the syllable or single syllable word that receives stress either by pitch or volume (you will also see underline used to indicate stress).

º                                   Talk within degree symbols is quieter than surrounding talk.

<  >                              Talk within is slower than surrounding talk.

>  <                              Talk within is faster than surrounding talk.

­                                  Noticeable rise in intonation

¯                                  Noticeable fall in intonation

[       ]                           Overlap.  Place the square brackets around the overlapped words and line them up so it is visually clear that there is an overlap

=                                  Latching.  At the end of one speaker’s turn and again at the beginning of the next speaker’s turn, = indicates that the second speaker begins talking immediately; it’s almost an overlap. (Also used to show that one speaker’s talk continues without break despite another speaker’s overlap.)

I-I-it                             hyphens indicate a false start

Uh, um                         “pause fillers”    -- be sure to write out.

Ye:::ah                          colons indicate a lengthened vowel

hh                                 breath sound

(   )                               inaudible

(talk)                            talk in parentheses is unclear, represents transcriber’s best guess

((laughs))                      use double parentheses for paralinguistic details and gestures if relevant

.                                   Use a period only if the intonation falls

?                                  Use a question mark only if the intonation rises

  Example IC            CounselW            Witness 

1     C:  Now wasn’t it true that the area where the car stopped is some distance from any          

2          house?

3          (2.0)

4     W:  Yeah  

5     C:   And (.) was it pitch dark or could you see Mr-Mr. [Brown?

6     W:                                                                                   [ºI could see ‘im.º]

7     C:   Could you repeat that?

8     W:  I could see:: ‘im.