SPEECH ACT THEORY

The speech act theory considers language as a sort of action rather than a medium to convey and express. The contemporary Speech act theory developed by ... ≡Menu SPEECHACTTHEORY in TechnicalCommunication INTRODUCTION Thespeechacttheoryconsiderslanguageasasortofactionratherthanamediumtoconveyandexpress.ThecontemporarySpeechacttheorydevelopedbyJ.L.AustinaBritishphilosopheroflanguages,heintroducedthistheoryin1975inhiswell-knownbookof‘Howdothingswithwords’. LaterJohnSearlebroughttheaspectsoftheoryintomuchhigherdimensions.Thistheoryisoftenusedinthefieldofphilosophyoflanguages.Austinistheonewhocameupwiththefindingsthatpeoplenotonlyusesthatlanguagetoassertthingsbutalsotodothings.Andpeoplewhofollowedhimwenttogreaterdepthsbasedonthispoint. THEORY Allsortoflinguistcommunicationarecomprisedoflinguisticactions.Previouslyitwasconceivedthattheverybasicunitofcommunicationiswords,Symbols,sentencesorsomekindoftokenofallofthese,butitwasspeechacttheorywhichsuggestedthatproductionorissuancesifwords,symbolsarethebasicunitsofcommunication.Thisissuancehappensduringtheprocessofperformanceofspeechact.Themeaningofthesebasicunitswasconsideredasthebuildingblocksofmutualunderstandingbetweenthepeopleintendtocommunicate. “Atheoryoflanguageisatheoryofaction”-GreigE.HendersonandChristopherBrown. Thetheoryemphasisthattheutteranceshaveadifferentorspecificmeaningtoitsuserandlistenerotherthanitsmeaningaccordingtothelanguage.Thetheoryfurtheridentifythattherearetwokindsofutterances,theyarecalledconstativeandperformativeutterances. Inhisbookof‘Howdothingswithwords’Austinclearlytalksaboutthedisparitiesbetweentheconstativeandperformativeutterances. Aconstativeutterancesissomethingwhichdescribesordenotesthesituation,inrelationwiththefactoftrueorfalse. Example:TheteacheraskedOliviawhethershehadstolenthecandy.Oliviareplies“mmmmmm”.HeretheutterancesofOliviadescribestheeventinpactofansweringherteacherwhetherthesituationwastrueorfalse. Theperformativeutterancesissomethingwhichdonotdescribesanythingatall.Theutterancesinthesentencesorinthepartofsentencesarenormallyconsideredashavingameaningofitsown.Thefeelings,attitudes,emotionsandthoughtsofthepersonperforminglinguisticactaremuchofaprincipalunithere. Example:BaneandSarahhavebeendatingforthepastfouryears.OnefineeveningBanetookSarahtothemostexpensiverestaurantintown.Andheorderedthemostexpensivewineavailableintherestaurant.Thenhemovedclosertoherandaskedherthat“willyoumarryme?”.Sarahburstwithcontentmentandreplied“Iwill”.Herethe“Iwill”ofSarahexpressherfeelings,attitudesandemotionaltowardsthecontext.Thisutteranceshaveitsspecificmeaningonlyinrelationtoitspecificcontext. FurtherAustindivideshislinguisticactintothreedifferentcategories.Theyare, Locutionaryact–Thisistheactofsayingsomething.Ithasameaninganditcreatesanunderstandableutterlytoconveyorexpress Illocutionaryact– Itisperformedasanactofsayingsomethingorasanactofopposedtosayingsomething.Theillocutionaryutterancehasacertainforceofit.Itwellwell-versedwithcertaintones,attitudes,feelings,oremotions.Therewillbeanintentionofthespeakerorothersinillocutionaryutterance.Itisoftenusedasatoneofwarningindaytodaylife Perlocutionaryact–Itnormallycreatesasenseofconsequentialeffectsontheaudiences.Theeffectsmaybeintheformofthoughts,imaginations,feelingsoremotions.Theeffectupontheaddresseeisthemaincharactershipofperlocutionaryutterances Forexample Thelocutionaryactdescribesadangeroussituation,theillocutionaryactactsasaforceofthewarningandperlocutionaryactsfrightentheaddressee. Austinhimselfadmitsthatthesethreecomponentsofutterancesarenotaltogetherseparable.“Wemustconsiderthetotalsituationinwhichtheutteranceisissued-thetotalspeechact–ifwearetoseetheparallelbetweenstatementsandperformativeutterance,andhoweachcangowrong.Perhapsindeedthereisnogreatdistinctionbetweenstatementsandperformativeutterances.”Austin. Searlesuggestedthatthebasicunitoflinguisticcommunicationisspeechact.Itcanbeaword,aphrase,asentenceorasound,itshouldfulfilthetaskofexpressingtheintentionoftheuser. Understandingtheuser’sintentioncanleadtocompleteunderstandingofthespeechact. CONCLUSION Thecontextofspeechactisinthecontextofsituationthanexplanation.Thespeechactborrowsitideasfromstructuralism.TheindirectspeechactofJohnSearlewasdevelopedbasedonAustin’sspeechact. 3 {23comments…addone} Bikila August28,2015,10:13pm Ithaswritteninfabulousmanner!! Link test February16,2016,12:10pm lookiehere Link Lowana November17,2016,5:34pm Itisanicescript Link MansurAkil May28,2017,7:52am verytriggeringtothinkmoreaboutlanguageascognition,languangeasemotion,andlanguageasaction Link NoelSamiano October9,2017,4:46pm yehey! Link fadilahmed January20,2018,1:08pm pleasegiveusmoreexampleofthethreelevelsofspeechacts Link Miyuki August1,2018,2:54am Thesimplestandeasiestexplanationthereis.Briefbutdirecttothepoint.🙂 Link Mari September10,2018,7:13pm Tillnowicannotgetit,dodAustendevideSpeechactsintoconstativeandperformativeORlocutionary,illocutionary,perlocutionary??? Link Murunga September14,2018,5:30pm It’sawonderfulpieceandwishtogetmore Link rwangmei September29,2018,12:14pm learnedalot.Thanks! Link TimothyMulengaChishimba April26,2019,6:14am Articleisinsightfulandstraightforward.Thumbsup. Link NingpaBelinda April28,2019,2:51pm Learnedgreatfromit Link Asriel August18,2019,5:51pm IdoagreewithMarithatmorespecificexampleisneededforeachclassification.Withoutsuchexample，wearestillhangingwiththosephilosophicalwords. Link MohammedZangi August26,2019,8:58pm Veryimpressive! Link Rabiu September4,2019,12:12pm Thankyou,foryourcontribution. Link KhaledAlyami December28,2019,6:26pm İneededtoreadthistwicetounderstand.Thetheoryisn’teasytounderstandinmyopinion. Link Jacquelinekennedy January8,2020,7:07pm Igotalittleconfusiononlocutionary,illocutionary&perlocutionaralsointheperforamtive&constativeI’maskingformoreexamplesthatIcanbewellonit..buttherestareperfectunderstandable.. Link Machellah February23,2020,11:55pm Veryimpressive,directtothepointhenceeasytounderstand,,thanksmuch…!! Link Saima April3,2020,10:39am Nicelyexplainedinprecisemanner. Link ZakayoJohn July24,2020,7:38am Nicematerial Link NehalAlsersawy January13,2021,2:01pm Great! Link Malak February15,2021,1:17am Reallyhelpfulformygraduationresearchandquotedsomeofit,I’mverygrateful. Link newmapanimedimensionscodes2021 October15,2021,8:49pm PaulC.Hoffmandice Link Cancelreply LeaveaComment Name* Email* Website Comment Nextpost:SYMBOLICINTERACTIONISMTHEORY Previouspost:AttributionTheory Search Categories Advertising,Publicrelations,MarketingandConsumerBehavior BusinessCommunication Communication/General CommunicationBarriers CommunicationinPractice CommunicationModels CulturalCommunication DevelopmentCommunication Economics GroupCommunication InterculturalCommunication InterpersonalCommunication MassCommunication OrganisationalCommunication PoliticalCommunication Psychology,BehavioralAndSocialScience TechnicalCommunication VisualCommunication CommunicationTheory Weusecookiestoensurethatwegiveyouthebestexperienceonourwebsite.Ifyoucontinuetousethissitewewillassumethatyouarehappywithit.Ok