Discourse Analysis

While transcriptions are helpful ways of examining spoken language "frozen" into a written mode, discourse analysis looks at conversation between two or more people and examines not only what they say but how they say it and crucially how they interact together. How do you know it is your turn to speak? How do you make it known that you want to speak?

Turntaking, use of pauses, overlaps when two people speak simultaneously, and deixis are all features of spontaneous conversation and elements of discourse analysis.

See Unscripted Conversations