A. Speech Act
A speech act is an utterance that a speaker
makes to achieve an intended effect. Speech acts
are performed when a person offers an apology,
greeting, request, complaint, invitation
compliment, or refusal. A speech act is an act of
communication.
B. Three types of Speech Act
According to J.L Austin, (1962). A
philosopher of language and the
developer of the speech act theory,
there are three types of acts in
every utterance, given the right
circumstances or context. These
are:
● Locutionary
● Illocutionary
● Perlocutionary
Locutionary Act- is the actual act of uttering or saying
something. This act happens with the utterances of a
sound, a word or even a phrase as a natural unit of
speech. For the utterances to be a Locutionary act,
consider the following:
● It makes sense, and most importantly, for
communication to take place.
● It has the same meaning to both the speaker and
the listener.
Illocutionary Act- is the social function of what is said.
In an illocutionary speech act, it is not just saying
something itself but with the act of saying something.
This speech act uses the Illocutionary force of a
statement, a confirmation, a denial, a prediction, a
promise, a request, etc.
J. Searle, (1976). Classified illocutionary acts into five
distinct categories.
● Assertive- a type of illocutionary act in which
the speaker expresses belief about the truth of a
proposition. Example: No one can love you
better than I do.
● Directive- a type of illocutionary act in which
the speaker tries to make the addressee perform
an action. Example: Please maintain the
cleanliness of our school.
● Commissive- a type of illocutionary act that
commits the speaker to do something in the
future. Example: From this moment on, I will
love you and honour you for the rest of my life.
● Expressive- a type of illocutionary act in which
the speaker expresses his/her feelings or
emotional reactions. Example: Thank heavens,
you come to save me! I owe you my life.
● Declaration- a type of illocutionary act which
brings a change in the external situations.
Simply put declarations bring into existence or
cause the state of affairs to which they refer.
Example: You are hired!
Perlocutionary act- refers to the consequent effect of
what was said. This is based on the particular context in
which the speech act was mentioned. The aim of a
perlocutionary act is to change feelings, thoughts, or
actions.
Types of Communicative Strategies
Nomination - This is usually used at the beginning of
the interaction to set the purpose of the conversation.
The speaker tries to open a topic with the people he is
talking to. One must present a particular topic clearly
and truthfully.
Restriction - This is used in constraining the reaction or
response within a defined set of categories. This is useful
when narrowing down a listener’s response to an
expected set of answers. This prevents the conversation
from going off-topic.
Turn-Taking - This strategy is used to establish and
sustain a productive conversation. Turn-taking is
recognizing when and how to speak when it is one’s
turn. Turn-taking provides persons equal opportunity to
say their piece. What is It 4 CO_Q2_Oral
Communication in Context SHS Module 9 Participants
must watch out for the verbal and non-verbal cues that
signal the next speaker that the previous speaker has
finished talking. One may employ visual signals like a
nod, a look, or a step back.
Topic Control - This is a communicative strategy used
in keeping the conversation going on by asking
questions that requires a response from the listener.
Topic control also allows the other participants to take
turns, contribute ideas, and continue the conversation.
Topic Shifting - This is defined as introducing a new
topic followed by the continuation of that topic. Topic
shifting is a strategy that works best when there is a
follow through so that a new topic continues to be
discussed. One may also use effective conversational
transitions to indicate a shift.
Repair - This communicative strategy refers to
overcoming communication breakdown to send more
comprehensible messages. Repair Communicative
Strategy includes:
a. Requesting clarification – One may
ask questions or use non-verbal communication such as
eyebrows, eyes, head, hands, or shoulders to
show that the message could not be understood.
b. Not acknowledging the new situation
– The situation already in progress will continue.
c. Topic shifting – This can help direct the
discussion to another topic or divert the attention of
the listener from the topic that has become
problematic
d. repeating - – This is a good way of
correcting oneself.
e. recasting - This refers to changing the
form of the message that could not be understood
Termination - This strategy ends the interaction by
using verbal and nonverbal messages that the
participants send to one another. Nonverbal may include
a handshake or walking out.