Vladimir Žegarac University of Bedfordshire

THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Speech Acts
1. Introduction
• Meaning and truth-conditions
• The inadequacy of the truth-conditional approach to linguistic meaning
• Speech acts

2. Speech act theory

• Speech act as action performed in saying something
• Three levels:
1. Locutionary act: the act of saying something.
2. Illocutionary force: what is done in interpreting the words.
3. Perlocutionary effect: the effect that the words have on the hearer.

• The performative hypothesis: behind every utterance there is a performative verb (such
as to order, to warn, etc.)
• Macro classes of speech act:
1. Declarations (1 bet, 1 declare, I resign)
2. Representatives (the words state what the speaker believes to be the case)
3. Commissives (promising, offering, threatening, refusing)
4. Directives (words are aimed at making the hearer do something)
5. Expressives (stating what the speaker feels)

• Felicity conditions: conditions which have to be met for an act to be performed

appropriately.
• Direct vs. indirect speech acts
=> Direct speech act: the speaker wants to communicate the literal meaning
that the words conventionally express.
=> Indirect speech act: the speaker wants to communicate a different meaning
from the apparent conventional meaning; the form and the function of the
utterance do not match.

3. Task
Analyse in terms of speech act theory the conversation between Kiki and Sharon:

Situation: Kiki and Sharon are students at a British University. They have been flatmates
for a short time and do not know each other very well. Kiki is Greek and Sharon is
English. Sharon is getting ready to go out.

[1] Kiki: Where are you going tonight?

[2] Sharon: Ministry.
[3] Kiki: Ministry?
[4] Sharon: Ministry of Sound. A club in London. Heard of it?
[5] Kiki: I’ve been clubbing in London before.
[6] Sharon: Where to?
[7] Kiki: Why do you want to know?
[8] Sharon: Well, I may have been there.
[9] Kiki: It was called ‘The End’.
[10] Sharon: Nice one!
[11] Kiki: I hope you have a good time at the Ministry.

READING: Schiffrin, D. (1994) Approaches to Discourse. Oxford:Blackwell. (Chapter 3:

Speech Act Theory)