Describing Talk

Original and resourceful, this concise introduction focuses on describing talk using a taxonomy of verbal response modes (VRMs). Together with its accompanying IBM-compatible computer disk, the book is a self-contained coder training programme



The volume presents the development of the taxonomy and its conceptual underpinnings and presents case studies of research projects that have used it. The author also fully describes how to apply the VRM system to the classification of speech acts in any sort of natural discourse. The disk introduces new coders to the principles of VRM coding. Together, they cut across disciplinary boundaries and will be of interest to a wide range of researchers and students.