The Form of Files:
For the CLAN programs to run successfully on CHAT transcripts, there are several minimum standards that must be followed regarding the form of a MinCHAT file.

When doing normal English coding, every character in the file must be in the basic character set. Every line must end by pressing the key.

The first line in the file must be an header line, while the last line must be an header line.

Another header line that must be included in the file is the header line, which provides the three-letter codes for each participant, along with their and their .

The participants' utterances are indicated by lines bearing the symbol. Following this symbol on the main line is a -letter code in -case letters for the participant who was the speaker of the utterance being coded. This is followed by a and then a space. These lines are called main tiers and should code for and only one utterance. When several consecutive utterances are produced by a speaker, each of them should be coded separately with a new speaker line.

If the transcriber wishes to enter additional information or personal commentary regarding the utterance on a particular speaker tier, these should be placed on a tier line. This line begins with the symbol. Following this symbol is a -letter code in -case letters indicating the name of the tier. This is succeeded by a and then a space.


The Form of Utterances:
In addition to the form of the files, there are also certain prescribed requirements for the ways in which utterances and words should be entered on the main lines.

Utterances should end with an utterance . The basic utterance terminators are the , the mark, and the mark.

Unlike conventional writing, the use of should be avoided.

Upper-case letters are reserved for and the pronoun "" and should not be used for the first words of sentences.

The symbol should be used to transcribe unintelligible words with an unclear phonetic shape. To transcribe the form of an incomplete or unintelligible string, the & symbol should be used. words may be transcribed with the omitted material in parentheses, as in (be)cause and (a)bout.


The Documentation File:
Researchers who collect large sets of files when conducting either longitudinal or cross-sectional studies should create a file containing a basic set of facts that are indispensable for the proper interpretation of the data by other researchers.

A is the name given to a large collection of files compiled from a longitudinal study looking at the language development of one child or a cross-sectional study investigating language learners from various age groups.

Each corpus should be accompanied by a file, which should be named, by convention, , and which should contain certain indispensable facts such as acknowledgements, warnings, codes, and biographical data.


Verifying Syntactic Accuracy:
Each transcript should be verified for accuracy with respect to CHAT transcription conventions.

The program should be used to ensure that a file matches the minimum requirements for correct analysis through the CLAN programs.

This program will detect such as failure to start lines with the correct symbols, use of incorrect speaker codes, or missing @Begin and @End symbols.