Las unidades del discurso oral : la propuesta Val.Es.Co. de segmentación de la conversación (coloquial)

This paper summarizes and critically reviews the model of discourse segmentation made by Briz and Grupo Val. Es. Co (2003). This model is made up of eight units (discourse, dialogue, exchange/ turn taking, intervention/turn, act and subact), three orders (social, structural and informative) and four positions (initial, medial, final and independent). The Val. Es. Co model is also hyerarchical and recursive. By applying the Val. Es. Co model, a conversation can be divided into parts and subparts without any element remaining unanalyzed. Also, some specific features occurring in conversations can be successfully analyzed. Among them, false starts, overlappings, the segmentation value of prosodic features or discourse markers.