An Analysis of Transcription
Spoken English does not look grammatically correct when written down because it is said that spoke English uses different conventions in the structure of sentences. With written English we are able to add commas, erase words, adopt phrases, and establish concrete endings on our sentences with periods. You are able to physically distinguish between the subject, verb, and the adjective in written English. Although you can make the same distinctions in spoken language there is the absence of ambuiguity dealing with the clarity of spoken language. Whether that person speaking has an accent, lipse, or speaks in a lower register than the transcriber all effect the clarity of the sentence spoken. The thing that is being discussed, what it is doing, and the qualities that it carries are all recognizable in written English. Transcription for a journalist can be compared to a poet interpreting free-verse from T. S. Eliot. The following is my transcription of the Unit one exercise:
"I think that sports stars like Michael Jordan, Deon Sanders, and Mark McGwuire make too much money. I don't understand how one guy can be worth that much money. I would just like to ask them how much they actually make in a year. The radio reports that some of those guys make $3,000 a minute. It doesn't seem fair that those guys make so much, while everyone else struggles."
Most of the em were changed into them because most people shorten
their pronunciation of words when speaking in a lower register. I also
recognize em as a aspect of the southern accent familiar to this
region. Most of the repitive words were omitted. In spoken language emotions
and sponatiety cause people to repite words and phrases so that they can
process the next idea into words.One of the most difficult aspects of spoken
English is the presence of fillers like um, like,
and,
you
know, and okay. These words tend to cause confusion on whether
or not the sentence ends or begins at a different point. Spoken English
also
allows for spontaneity and speed which can lead to confusion of words,
repetition, and rephrasing. Other factors that pose a challenge for transcription
are the characteristics of informal speech that appear in spoken English.
These things make it very difficult to interpret the information so that
it is grammatical correct for publication. Slang, nonsense vocabulary,
blends, and grammatical informalities cause
questions in transcrition. For instance, words like isn't, he's,and
whatchamacallit
all fall into those categories. These things present
problems when trying to configure the correct spelling of a word or finding
the actual meaning of that word. Another issue with informal speech and
slang is that it might be custom to a certain area to speak a certain way
whereas a journalist from a totally different region can hardly understand
what the speaker is talking about. It would be very hard to transcribe
an eyewitness testimony when you have no idea what they just said. It is
also a difficult task to determine intonations of spoken english which
include the tempo, loudness, and tone of the speaker with perfect accuracy
when transcribing. It is very difficult to convey the excitment of a person
during an interview without changing certain words around.
It would be interesting to see how a journalist from Los Angeles,
California could transcibe the testiomonal of a 59-year old man from Charleston,
South Carolina. Frankly speaking, some ideas would be lost between the
lines.
Works Cited
Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1995.