Methods, Finding, Discusssion, and Conclusion (Types and Functions of Fillers)

Transcribing 

            I started to listen to the recorded conversation from my recorder device for several times. This was important to identify fillers in the utterances. Then, I transcribed the conversations and listened to the recording again to check whether the transcription was the same as the recording one. When transcribing, I used the transcription symbols which are commonly used for conversation analytic research. These symbols were developed by Gail Jefferson (1978, cited in Wooffitt, 2005). The following symbols are used in the data.

(.)         unit (silent pause) / a brief pause

(--)       double unit (silent pause) / longer than unit

(---)      treble unit (silent pause) / longer than double unit

.           end of the utterance

*   *     overlapping talk

**        interrupted talk

*          interrupting talk

>          continuing talk from the same speaker

(  )        unclear fragment on the tape