Language Teaching Research Quarterly

The goal of this article is to introduce the Collaborative Commentary (CC) tool and explain how it can be used in conjunction with the many TalkBank shared databases to enhance research and teaching in many areas of language study. The CC tool and its features are described in a detailed example of an assignment for an introductory course on language development. Students are able to join a CC group set up by their instructor, open specific transcripts in the CHILDES database, watch an interaction on video, follow the interaction in the transcript, and insert comments or codes directly into the transcript which are only available to members of that CC group. Additional examples of teaching, research, and clinical applications are given for using CC with other TalkBank shared databases such as AphasiaBank, TBIBank, DementiaBank, FluencyBank, and ClassBank. CC is an innovative tool that opens the rich resources of the TalkBank shared databases for a variety of purposes. Instructors can use CC to give students the opportunity to apply what they are learning by identifying behaviors such as those associated with typical dysfluencies versus stuttering or typical language development versus late talking that they are learning about in academic classes. Clinical instructors can have students practice scoring various tests or describe the techniques used in a particular treatment program. Researchers can use CC to debate theories on language, refine definitions of commonly used terms, establish coding reliability, and code behaviors of interests such as gestures, errors, coherence, macrostructure, and pragmatics. The CC tool can open up many exciting new ways to investigate language in many disciplines.