SPEECH ACTS

What is speech act?

Speech acts are the speaker’s utterances which convey meaning and make listeners do specific things (Austin, 1962).
Example:
“I am hungry.”
• expresses hunger
• requests for something to eat

There are three types of speech act:

 LOCUTION  ILLOCUTION  PERLOCUTION
LOCUTIONARY (UTTERANCE)
The actual words uttered.
Speaking part of the speech act.
A locutionary speech act occurs when the speaker performs an utterance (locution)

ILLOCUTIONARY (INTENTION)
The intention behind the words uttered.
It is the performance of the act of saying something with a specific intention.
JONH SEARLE’S CATEGORIES OF ILLOCUTIONARY ACTS
 ASSERTIVES  COMMISIVES  DECLARATIVES
 DIRECTIVES  EXPRESSIVES
ASSERTIVES
Commit the speaker to the truthfulness of a condition or situation such as when he or she asserts, concludes , deduces,
or swears that something is true.
EXAMPLE:
Goloso visits his grandmother during the holidays

DIRECTIVES
Are attempts by the speaker to make the listener do something
EXAMPLE:
I advise you to stop smoking.
COMMISIVES
Commit the speaker to a future action
EXAMPLE:
I will win it for you
EXPRESSIVES
Show a speaker’s attitude toward a situation
EXAMPLE:
You did great.
DECLARATIVES
Make something true by saying it (constantive) or make the speaker do something by saying it (performative)
EXAMPLE:
Constantive
I now pronounce you husband and wife
Performative
I nominate myself for class president.

PERLOCUTIONARY (EFFECT)
The influence of the word on the listener.
It happens when what the speaker says has an effect on the listener.

COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
It is a way to avoid communication breakdown.

NOMINATION

When introducing a topic at the beginning of Communicative Situation, what is being used is the Nomination Strategy. It
is a Strategy that can also applied any time during the course of an interaction as a way of continuing the
communication. When this strategy is used, the topic is introduced in a clear and truthful manner, stating only what is
relevant to keep the interaction focused.

TURN-TAKING

Turn-taking in a conversation refers to the time given to each speaker to deliver his/her message before the other
speaker talks. This encourages the speakers to be courteous and respectful of each other’s time. Throughout a
conversation, speakers negotiate turn-taking.

RESTRICTION

Is a process by which a speaker constrains the response/reaction within a certain set of categories
TOPIC CONTROL

A strategy that limits the coverage of a discussion or conversation to things that are acceptable to the people involved in
the exchange.

TOPICSHIFTING

When changing from one topic to another, the speaker should prepare the audience or listeners for the change. The
change must be done smoothly by using known expressions that signal a change of topic.

Example

“By the way…”

“ Well, in other news..”
“In addition...”
“Since you mentioned that…”
“ I know this off-topic but I have to ask/say..”
“ Before I forget…”
“Going back to…”
“Speaking of..”
TERMINATION

– Using verbal and nonverbal signals to end the interaction through verbal and nonverbal messages that both speaker
and listener sent to each other.

INFORMATIVE SPEECH
An informative speech is one in which the speaker relays knowledge to an audience on a specific topic.