Transcript Format

Identify the Speakers

The speakers in the transcript are defined on the $ speaker line at the beginning of the transcript. The first letter of each name is used to identify that speaker. This is called the "speaker id". In this example, "C" is the speaker id for the child and "E" is the speaker id for the examiner. Typically, the target speaker is listed first on the $ speaker line. For example,
   $ Child, Examiner
   + Name: T. R.
   + Gender: M
   + CA: 7;2
   + Grade: 2
   + Context: Nar
   + Subgroup: FWAY
   + Examiner: D. Richards
   - 0:00
   E Do you have any pet/s?
   C Yes.
   C I have a dog.

Format the Identification Information

Follow the $ speaker line with the transcript identification lines. These lines begin with a plus sign (+) and are used to provide identification information at the beginning of your transcript. This information may include the target language, the speaker's name and age, subject number, date of transcript, description of codes, etc. Enter such information on lines that begin with a plus sign (+) in the first column. You may enter as many information (+) lines as you like at any point in your transcript. The SALT program ignores these lines for analysis. They are included for identification or commenting purposes only. However, the Database menu looks at the contents of the plus lines to extract specific information for automatically matching database records. These lines are all optional, but you are encouraged to include them for purposes of accuracy and convenience. For example,

Initialize the Clock

Enter the initial clock time in minutes and seconds or in hours, minutes, and seconds. The default time is zero, and assumes that you are measuring elapsed time. This information will generate the initial clock time on a line which begins with a hyphen. For example,