ABSTRACT
In the previous chapters, we have examined how CHAT can be used to create file headers and to code the actual words of the interaction on the main line. The third major component of a CHAT transcript is the ancillary information given on the dependent tiers. Dependent tiers are lines typed below the main line that contain codes, comments, events, and descriptions of interest to the researcher. It is important to have this material on separate lines, because the extensive use of complex codes in the main line would make it un-readable. There are many codes that refer to the utterance as a whole. Using a separate line to mark these avoids having to indicate their scope or cluttering up the end of an utterance with codes.
