DISCOURSE PROCESSES, 29(1), 25-36
Copyright © 2000, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Transcribing Oral Discourse:
A Survey and a Model System

Richard A. Dressler
School of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology
The University of Memphis

Roger J. Kreuz
Department of Psychology
The University of Memphis

Researchers who study discourse must frequently transcribe a variety of paralinguistic dimensions to document the ways in which utterances are spoken. However, there are a large number of such underlying dimensions, and researchers have developed different transcription systems to describe them. The purpose of this article is to offer a model transcription system, based on a 5-year survey of the systems employed in articles appearing in Discourse Processes. A relatively small number of dimensions can account for most of the phenomena that have been of interest to discourse researchers. The proposed system, which is based on a set of 7 design principles, is offered as a model for use in research and publication.

Back to Roger Kreuz's home page.