ORAL COMMUNICATION WEEK 7

NOVEMBER 23 – 27, 2020

MAGDALENA B. DASCO
(SUBJECT TEACHER)

Learning Competency: The learner responds appropriately and effectively to a speech act.
(EN11/12OC-Ifj-20)

Responding Appropriately and Effectively to a Speech Act

As you know by now, Oral Communication is centered in developing communicative

competence among learners. ‘Communicative competence’ is the level of language learning that
enables language users to convey their messages to others and to understand others’ messages within
specific contexts (Hymes, 1972). Communicative competence refers to your ability to use language to
communicate successfully. This means having a good command of the English language and being able
to effectively deliver and communicate it with others. Effectively communicating with others requires an
utterance and successful delivery of your intended message and its purpose.
To achieve this, together with learning speech context and speech style, you should also take
note of speech acts.

WHAT IS SPEECH ACT?

According to Searle (1976), speech act refers to an utterance that a speaker delivers to achieve
an intended effect toward a specific purpose. Using speech acts, a speaker can express his/her
intentions such as apologize, request, complain, invite, compliment, and refuse. A speech act may be
delivered using one or several words or sentences but could still mean the same. For instance, “Sorry”
and “I apologize, I did not mean to offend you” are both uttered to express an apology regardless of
their length.
1. Locutionary act is the actual words or utterances we deliver or say. It asks, “What did the
speaker say?”
Example: “The coffee really smells and tastes great.”

2. Illocutionary act is the intention that a speaker has or the effect that the utterance has on
receivers. It asks, “What did the speaker mean?”
Example: By saying the locution “The coffee really smells and tastes great,” the speaker
might be meaning to invite or offer the receiver a cup of coffee, or the speaker might also
just want to simply state that the coffee tastes great.

3. Perlocutionary act is the result or effect produced by the means of a speaker’s illocutionary
acts. It asks, “What is going to happen after what the speaker said?”
Example: Upon hearing “The coffee really smells and tastes great,” the receiver might react
by accepting a cup of coffee from the speaker if he/she interprets the locution as an offer.

In some instances, an indirect speech act is possible wherein there is no direct connection
between the form of the utterance and the intended meaning. Read the following example.

“Can you please keep quiet?”

Inferred speech act: Do you have the ability to keep quiet?
Indirect speech act: Please, keep quiet.
In the above example, though the utterance literally asks the receiver if he/she has the ability to keep
quiet, it actually indirectly requests the receiver to keep quiet.
Searle’s Classifications of Illocutionary Act
As an addition to Austin’s Speech Act Theory, John Searle (1976) classified illocutionary acts into
five categories:

Assertive Directive Commissive Expressive Declarative

This is a This is a This is a This is a This is a

classification of classification of classification of classification of classification of
illocutionary act in illocutionary act in illocutionary act illocutionary act in illocutionary act
which a speaker which the speaker which commits which the speaker which brings a
conveys his/her tries to make the the speaker to conveys his/her change in the
belief about the receiver do an doing something feelings or external
truth of a action. in the future. emotional
proposition. reactions.

asserting, asking, ordering, promising, thanking, passing decrees

claiming, requesting, threatening, apologizing, or
reporting, inviting, advising, offering, complaining, declarations,
concluding, begging, planning, welcoming, blessing, firing,
boasting suggesting vowing, betting deploring baptizing,
bidding,
passing a
sentence,
Examples of Examples of Examples of Examples of excommunicating
verbs: verbs: command, verbs: verbs:
affirm, deny, dare, challenge, swear, vow, apologize, Examples of
believe, conclude, ask, insist, request guarantee, deplore, thank, verbs: baptize,
report pledge, promise regret sentence, resign
congratulate,
welcome
Example Example Example Example Example
sentence: “I sentence: sentence: “I sentence: sentence:
always get the “Would you like promise to do my “I am really sorry “This court
highest score in to attend the best to teach you that I came late declares the
this game!” prom with me?” well.” today.” defendant guilty
of murder.”

***GOD BLESS***