VOICE Recording – Methodological Challenges in the Compilation of a Corpus of Spoken ELF

Abstract

VOICE, the Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English, aims to provide a general basis for analyses of English as a lingua franca (ELF) talk on all linguistic levels. This paper discusses criteria that have to be fulfilled in order to achieve this aim. It illustrates that compiling a corpus of spoken ELF involves the reconciliation of different – and often conflicting – requirements: this means finding and keeping a reasonable balance between theoretical specifications, methodological considerations and practical limitations. The focus of this paper is on dilemmas encountered in the processes of data collection and selection and finding suitable ways of representing spoken ELF in written form.