Katie Woodworth
November 2, 2011
Chat Room Experience Transcript
Prior to taking this class, I had never heard of the term discourse analysis and had no idea what it even meant. After reading the definitions in the textbook Research Methods for English Studies, it seemed to make sense that everyone of us uses discourse every day of our lives. We also use discourse analysis everyday when we respond to a question or remark that someone makes during a conversation. It had never occurred to me that these every day conversations I have with my friends, family, coworkers, professors, etc. could be analyzed as a research method in English studies. I also never thought to look at the specific tone that a person uses while they are talking to someone else and it can change based on the discourse and the relationships. I learned that there are multiple ways to look at a conversation and there is no right or wrong way to do so.
For this discourse analysis assignment, I will be using the transcript that deals with one of Dr. Chandler’s former students, known as A, and her experiences in chat room sessions. This transcript shows specific experiences and personal stories that A had discussed during the chat room sessions. There are many different parts of the transcript that can be closely examined and for this assignment I will be specifically focusing on for this assignment is what led the tone of A’s voice going from scary in the first excerpt to funny in the second excerpt. I will also be focusing on the impact that an interviewer can have in changing the tone of the person being interviewed.
After reading the first part of the transcript, I could immediately get the impression that A appeared to have a scared tone in her voice. There was a specific instance when she tells Sally that she thought she talked to a pedophile and she gave the man her number. He had called her and she hung up on him because she was so terrified. This is evident in the transcript when A tells Sally, “I was so scared.” Later in the transcript, when the man called A, she had told him what she was wearing and quickly says goodbye. A even said “Oh my gosh, he’s going to find out where I live, my mom’s going to kill me.” This is another example of the scared tone used by A in the transcript.
When I first read this transcript, I did not think to look at what Sally may have said to A that could have led to A using a scary tone. However, after looking at the transcript a few more times, it seemed to me that when Sally leads A into talking about her opinion on computers when she was younger, this could possibly have led A into remembering the experience she had in fifth grade when she thought she was talking to a pedophile. I also realized at this point that Sally mentions something about “the call” and A immediately can recall the time that she was in a chat room talking to someone. It was very important that Sally asked the questions to A in this specific way so that Sally could get A to talk about this subject the way that she intended to. This totally set the tone on how the whole interviewing process turned out.
By the second excerpt, A’s tone had shifted from frightened to a more relaxed and even funny tone. I feel that the first question that Sally asked A in the second excerpt made her feel less anxious. Sally had asked A what she and her friends normally do while they go on the computer. A talked about how the computer came with paint and that she and her friends would make pictures and use photoshop and mentions that they “had a lot of fun.” This comment really shows the change of tone in A’s voice. After hearing this answer, Sally started laughing, which may have led to A remembering additional, less scary, chat room experiences.
I felt that the question that really led to A’s transitioning to a funny tone was, “Do you have a particular story about one adventure with technology”? A responds with a story about a time when she and a friend were in a chat room and decided to go on some guy’s profile and he asked them for a picture of themselves. As it turned out, they were talking to their pastor’s son, which seemed awkward for them at that time, but now A laughs at it.
Although I did not hear or see the actual interview between Sally and A, just by reading the transcript I could really get the sense of how A felt when she remembered the phone call she had received in fifth grade. A even admitted that she was really scared at one point during this phone call and I do not blame her at all; I would have felt the same way if something like that happened to me. When A talks about hearing a voice that was not a kid, I could almost picture this scene taking place in my head.
It is possible that A may have been nervous during this interview. This could have led to the scared tone in the first excerpt. The main reason I feel that A may have been nervous is because it seemed to me that she had very lengthy answers to Sally’s very short questions. A also did much of the talking and it took her more than one time to get the story out to Sally. A uses a lot of pronouns too, which could have been another result of her nervousness. In the second excerpt, it seemed that A was much more relaxed than in the first one. The fact that A’s answers were much shorter proved this possible explanation to be true. This could possibly be the result of A becoming less nervous and more relaxed during the progression of the interview. Unlike the first transcript when Sally did much of the talking, A and Sally had each done a fair and consistent amount of talking during the second excerpt of the transcript. The only parts of the second excerpt that A’s responses appear to be longer are when she told a personal story about additional chat room experiences.
Rereading a transcript multiple times can certainly make you think of and realize different ideas that you may not have thought of the first time. The first thing that I had noticed after reading this transcript was the many uses of pronouns by A. After discussing this transcript in class and reading it a few more times after class, I realized that A’s tone had changed from a scary and nervous one to funny and relaxed. Although I was hesitant at first on whether or not I could analyze a transcript, I feel somewhat more confident about analyzing not only a transcript of a previous interview and even a group of people having a conversation. After learning more about discourse analysis, I now know that you may need to have a more open mind about looking for specific thoughts and ideas on a particular subject.
