I'm trying to write a transcription script in nodejs to deployed to google cloud function. here is the code

I am using node v17.5.0

const client = new speech.SpeechClient();

const [response] = await client.recognize(request);
const transcription = response.results

but I keep getting this error

160:30 error Parsing error: Unexpected token client

I have made multiple attempts including modifying .eslinrc.js file and still can't solve the problem.

what is causing this and how can i fix it?