DEFINITION OF SPEECH ACT
- is an utterance that serves a function in communication. We perform speech acts when we offer an apology, greeting, request, complaint, invitation, compliment, or refusal.
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.
1. Locutionary Act - is the actual act of saying something, the act of uttering certain expressions.
2. Illocutionary Act - is the social function of what is said.
3. Perlocutionary Act - is the resulting act of what is said. This effect is based on the particular context in which the speech act was mentioned.
Performatives
Austin also introduced the concept of performative utterances: statements which enable the speaker to perform something just by stating it. In this manner, verbs that execute the speech act that they intend to effect are called "Performatives".
SEARLE'S CLASSIFICATION OF SPEECH ACT
As a response to Austin's Speech Act Theory, John Searle (1976), a professor from the University of California, Berkery, classified illocutionary acts into five distinct categories.
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, pulling forward, swearing, boasting, and concluding.
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.
3. Commissive - a type of illocutionary act which commits the speaker to do something in the future. Examples of a commissive act are promising, planning, vowing, and betting.
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 thinking, apologizing, welcoming, and developing.
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.
Note:
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 use 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.
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