ABSTRACT
Within the field of translation and interpreting studies, the literature produced on the subject of transcription has been less than extensive for research purposes, despite its importance in the professional arena (trials, police wiretaps, language learning, research). There are also a great number of disciplines (applied linguistics, second language teaching, ethnography, ethnomethodology, anthropology) which use transcripts of conversations or documents for their studies. The aim of this chapter is twofold: on the one hand, to examine the theoretical and practical
issues involved in transcribing and translating for different purposes (forensic, medical, research, business) and, on the other hand, to explore some applications in different fields (information, journalism, second language teaching and learning, interpreting and translation, training). First, as a brief introduction, I will provide some basic definitions of the main concepts, and
outline the skills needed to create transcripts. I will also discuss different types of transcripts and their uses; secondly, some notes on early developments in the field of transcription and translation (TR&tl) will follow; thirdly a more detailed description of some of the most representatives uses of TR&tl will be explored; finally, some advances and new directions in TR&tl, a result of the increasing number of recorded conversations that require transcription/translation for different purposes, will be mentioned.
