Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Region VII- Central Visayas
DIVISION OF BOHOL

ACTIVITY SHEET IN ORAL COMMUNICATION

Quarter : 1 Week : 8 Day : 3 Activity : 1

No.
Competency : Responds appropriately and effectively to a speech act
EN11/12OC-Ifj-20
Objective : Identify appropriate examples for each Speech Act classification
Topic : Speech Acts
Materials : Activity Sheet
Reference : Philippe John Fresnillo, Anne Richie Garcia Balgos. Oral
Communication in Context for Senior High School. Quezon City:
C & E Publishing, Inc. , 2016.

Copyrights : For Classroom Use Only

Concept Notes
Searle’s Classifications of Speech Act

1. Assertive – a type of illocutionary act in which the speaker expresses belief about
the truth of a proposition. Some examples of an assertive act are suggesting, putting
forward, swearing, boasting, and concluding.
Example: No one makes better pancakes than I do.

2. Directive – a type of illocutionary act in which the speaker tries to make the
addressee perform an action. Some examples of a directive act are asking, ordering,
requesting, inviting, advising, and begging.
Example: Please close the door.

3. Commissive – a type of illocutionary act which commits the speaker to doing

something in the future. Examples of a commissive act are promising, planning,
vowing, and betting.
Example: From now on, I will participate in our group activity.

4. Expressive – a type of illocutionary act in which the speaker expresses his/her

feelings or emotional reactions. Some examples of an expressive act are thanking,
apologizing, welcoming, and deploring.
Example: I am so sorry for not helping out in our group projects and letting you do all
the work.

5. Declaration – a type of illocutionary act which brings a change in the external

situation. Simply put, declarations bring into existence or cause the state of affairs
which they refer to. Some examples of declarations are blessing, firing, baptizing,
bidding, passing a sentence, and excommunicating.
Example: You are fired!
By saying that someone is fired, an employer causes or brings about the person’s
unemployment, thus changing his external situation.

Always keep in mind that speech acts include concrete life interactions that require
the appropriate use of language within a given culture. Communicative competence
(i.e., the ability to linguistic knowledge to effectively communicate with others) is
essential for a speaker to be able to use and understand speech acts. Idioms and other
nuances in a certain language might be lost or misunderstood by someone who does
not fully grasp the language yet.
Activity No. 1

Directions: Complete the following table with information related to Searle’s

Classification of Speech Acts.

Example:

Classification of Speech Specific Situation Example

Act
Assertive Chris bought a new gadget, “I’m the only one in school
and he shows it off to his who has this new iPhone
friends. model”.

Classification of Speech Specific Situation Example

Act
Assertive

Directive

Commissive

Expressive

Declarative