MLT: counting null utterances (i.e. communicative gestures) as turns

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Suzy Read

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Sep 4, 2014, 12:16:51 PM9/4/14
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Hello all, 

I'm using CLAN to run MLT analyses on a corpus of data where parents and children read books together. In our transcripts, sometimes the parent or child will use a communicative non-verbal gesture (e.g. pointing at the book, waving their hand) but will not speak. We have transcribed these events so that the main line is a null utterance containing just "0", as follows:

*FATP1: whose house are they going to?
*CHIP1: 0.
%act: points at the house.
*FATP:  that's right.

In these transcripts, the child's pointing is clearly a conversation turn. But when I run the MLT operation, I've found that that the null utterances are being counted as utterances, but not as turns. I cannot figure out what switches to use to make CLAN count the null utterances as turns. I tried to add the [+ trn] postcode after the 0 in the main line, and then to add the switch +s"[+ trn]", but this did not work (it made CLAN look at only null utterances, but still not counting them as turns). 

Would anyone be able to assist? I would really appreciate the help! Thanks in advance!

Leonid Spektor

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Sep 4, 2014, 12:50:05 PM9/4/14
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Suzy,

CLAN was fixed to count both turns and utterances for empty utterances when Brian MacWhinney replied to your email on August 27th. Please download latest CLAN from childes web site and follow instructions in that email.


Leonid.

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Suzy Read

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Sep 4, 2014, 12:55:50 PM9/4/14
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Oh thank you Leonid, I didn't realize a fix had been completed! Huge thanks! :)


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