ORAL COMMUNICATION IN CONTEXT

HAND OUT #4

SPEECH ACT

A speech act is an utterance that a speaker makes to achieve an intended effect. Some of the functions
which are carried out using speech acts are offering an apology, greeting, request, complaint, invitation,
compliment, or refusal. A speech act might contain just one word or several words or sentences. For
example, “Thanks” and “Thank you for always being there for me. I really appreciate it” both show
appreciation regardless of the length of the statement.

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:

1. Locutionary act is the actual act of uttering.

“Please do the dishes.”
2. Illocutionary act is the social function of what is said.
By uttering the locution “Please do the dishes,” the speaker requests the
addressee to wash the dishes.
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.
“Please do the dishes” would lead to the addressee washing the dishes.

There are also indirect speech acts which occur when there is no direct connection between the form of
the utterance and the intended meaning. They are different in force (i.e., intention) from the inferred
speech act.

For example, read the following utterance.

“Can you pass the rice?”
Inferred speech act: Do you have the ability to hand over the rice?
Indirect speech act: Please pass the rice.
So, while the utterance literally asks the addressee if he or she has the ability to hand a plate of rice, it
actually indirectly requests the addressee to pass the rice to the speaker.

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. A performative utterance said by the right person under the right
circumstances results in a change in the world. Note that certain conditions have to be met when
making a performative utterance.

For example, the phrase “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” when uttered by an authorized
person such as a judge will have the actual effect of binding a couple in marriage. However, if the same
statement is uttered to the same couple in the same place by someone who is not authorized to marry
them—as in the case of the accompanying picture, a robot—then there is no effect whatsoever because
a condition was not met.

Searle’s Classifications of Speech Act

As a response to Austin’s Speech Act Theory, John Searle (1976), a professor from the University of
California, Berkeley, 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, 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 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.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATIVE STRATEGY

1. Nomination

A speaker carries out nomination to collaboratively and productively establish a topic. Basically, when
you employ this strategy, you try to open a topic with the people you are talking to. When beginning a
topic in a conversation, especially if it does not arise from a previous topic, you may start off with news
inquiries and news announcements as they promise extended talk. Most importantly, keep the
conversational environment open for opinions until the prior topic shuts down easily and initiates a
smooth end. This could efficiently signal the beginning of a new topic in the conversation.

2. Restriction

Restriction in communication refers to any limitation you may have as a speaker. When communicating
in the classroom, in a meeting, or while hanging out with your friends, you are typically given specific
instructions that you must follow. These instructions confine you as a speaker and limit what you can
say. For example, in your class, you might be asked by your teacher to brainstorm on peer pressure or
deliver a speech on digital natives. In these cases, you cannot decide to talk about something else. On
the other hand, conversing with your friends during ordinary days can be far more casual than these
examples. Just the same, remember to always be on point and avoid sideswiping from the topic during
the conversation to avoid communication breakdown.

3. Turn-taking

Sometimes people are given unequal opportunities to talk because others take much time during the
conversation. Turn-taking pertains to the process by which people decide who takes the conversational
floor. There is a code of behavior behind establishing and sustaining a productive conversation, but the
primary idea is to give all communicators a chance to speak. Remember to keep your words relevant
and reasonably short enough to express your views or feelings. Try to be polite even if you are trying to
take the floor from another speaker. Do not hog the conversation and talk incessantly without letting
the other party air out their own ideas. To acknowledge others, you may employ visual signals like a
nod, a look, or a step back, and you could accompany these signals with spoken cues such as “What do
you think?” or “You wanted to say something?”
4. Topic Control

Topic control covers how procedural formality or informality affects the development of topic in
conversations. For example, in meetings, you may only have a turn to speak after the chairperson directs
you to do so. Contrast this with a casual conversation with friends over lunch or coffee where you may
take the conversational floor anytime. Remember that regardless of the formality of the context, topic
control is achieved cooperatively. This only means that when a topic is initiated, it should be collectively

developed by avoiding unnecessary interruptions and topic shifts. You can make yourself actively
involved in the conversation without overly dominating it by using minimal responses like “Yes,” “Okay,”
“Go on”; asking tag questions to clarify information briefly like “You are excited, aren’t you?”, “It was
unexpected, wasn’t it?”; and even by laughing!

5. Topic Shifting

Topic shifting, as the name suggests, involves moving from one topic to another. In other words, it is
where one part of a conversation ends and where another begins. When shifting from one topic to
another, you have to be very intuitive. Make sure that the previous topic was nurtured enough to
generate adequate views. You may also use effective conversational transitions to indicate a shift like
“By the way,” “In addition to what you said,” “Which reminds me of,” and the like.

6. Repair

Repair refers to how speakers address the problems in speaking, listening, and comprehending that they
may encounter in a conversation. For example, if everybody in the conversation seems to talk at the
same time, give way and appreciate other’s initiative to set the conversation back to its topic.Repair is
the self-righting mechanism in any social interaction (Schegloff et al, 1977). If there is a problem in
understanding the conversation, speakers will always try to address and correct it. Although this is the
case, always seek to initiate the repair.

7. Termination

Termination refers to the conversation participants’ close-initiating expressions that end a topic in a
conversation. Most of the time, the topic initiator takes responsibility to signal the end of the discussion
as well. Although not all topics may have clear ends, try to signal the end of the topic through

concluding cues. You can do this by sharing what you learned from the conversation. Aside from this,
soliciting agreement from the other participants usually completes the discussion of the topic
`meaningfully.

EXERCISE: Identify the type of communicative strategy in each statement.

1. “Do you have anything to say?”

2. “One of the essential lessons I gained from the discussion is the importance of sports and wellness to
a healthy lifestyle.”
3. “Excuse me? I think we should speak one at a time, so we can clearly understand what we want to say
about the issue.”
4. “Go on with your ideas. I’ll let you finish first before I say something.”
5. “Have you heard the news about the latest achievement of our government?”
6. “Hey, how are you? I missed you!”
7. “Best regards to your parents! See you around!”
8. “Good to see you. Anyway, I came to visit you because I want to personally offer apologies for what I
did yesterday.”
9. “Sorry, I can’t decide on that now. I am still focused on my writing assignment. Let’s talk next time,
okay?”
10. “Now, it’s your turn to ask questions.”