Analysing a Transcript.

The context of the transcript is not clear, as there are no indications as to when or where the conversation took place, just like there are no documented paralinguistic actions. We find F setting the agenda by inquiring about the riding school R has presumably attended recently, but for what purpose is he/she asking? It seems that F is simply amusing R who now adopts a younger role, as R is happy to talk and keep the agenda the same. F shows no particular or keen interest, but not so much that R is aware of this. This is where we begin to recognise the roles of the characters as F acts as a parent or older figure, making him the more dominant of the two but with good intentions; he/she has more power which he/she may use in a different situation. There are several things supporting this - when F reveals that he already knows about riding school on lines twenty and twenty-one the text overlaps, he/she both aids R with explaining about the bridles, and interrupts him during speech, dominating the situation, and R is still as eager as ever to speak. This isn’t necessarily realised by R as again, F’s intentions are good and it seems they are merely bonding whatever their relationship.

We see R’s role as a younger character with the increasing amount of child-like sentences. The continuous hesitating and frequent pauses are very expectant of young children especially when they are accompanied by the repetition of things like ‘and then’ (lines thirteen to fifteen), incorrect syntax, or child-like vocabulary like the use of the word ‘tummy’ instead of stomach. R is also seen to backtrack over what he/she has said, correcting or just thinking it over as kids do. Contrasting this is how F seems so be, although alert and also happy to listen, only talking for the sake of it and not interacting particularly within the conversation. These factors have helped to establish the roles that F and R play as almost parent and child.