Speech Acts Theoretical Description
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Yule 1998, p. 25 describes speech act is the basic unit of linguistic communication and an action performed by the use of an utterance to
communicate as cited in Nhan, 2012, p. 2. When people try to express themselves, they do not only produce utterances containing grammatical
structures and words, but also perform actions via those utterances such as inviting, leave taking and accusin
g. For instance, the utterance “Would you like a cup of coffee?
” performs an act of inviting. Hurford and Heasley 2003 state that on any occasion the action
performed by producing an utterance is composed of three related acts: the locutionary act, the perlocutionary act the perlocution, and the illocutionary act
the illocution as cited in Nhan, 2012, p. 2. The perlocution of an utterance is often quite different from its illocution. Generally, the illocution performed by
means of an utterance is intended by the speaker and under his control, while the perlocution is not always intended by the speaker and is not under his full control.
For instance, a speaker may intend or try to carry out an illocutionary act of inviting by making an utterance, but the perlocution may be out of
this speaker’s control because the invitee can refuse the invitation instead of accepting it.
Searle 1987, p. 23 mentions that locutionary act contains the way people produce an utterance and mean they say literally. The utterance, “The weather is
too hot” could be perceived as its literal meaning that the weather or the temperature is really hot. In the contrary, Cruse 2000, p. 332 states that
Illocutionary acts are acts which are appropriate, once the lucotionary act has been performed, so has the illocutionary act. It refers to what speakers intend to say
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from the utterance they produce in such a way that the addresses understand the meaning. Act of stating, promising, apologizing, threatening, predicting,
complaining, ordering, refusing, and requesting are included in illocutionary act. If speaker says, “The room is too dark” that means he wants the addressee to turn
on the light. A speech act is a sentence or utterance which has both propositional
meaning and illocutionary meaning. A speech act which is performed indirectly is sometimes known as an indirect speech act, such as the speech act of requesting,
which is something felt more polite. Searle 1979 classifies five kinds of speech act, namely commisive, declarative, directive, expressive, and assertive. The
descriptions are as follow. a.
Commisive A commisive allows the speakers to do a certain act in the future.
Language is used to contract an obligation on the part of the speaker to act in a certain way in the future such as warning, promising, threatening, guaranteeing,
intending, vowing or an offering. Its function is less competitive because it focuses on the interest of the addressee. The speaker of a commissive is
attempting to alter the world in some way; commissive thus reflect a world-to- words fit. Unlike directives, however, it is the speaker’s rather than the hearer’s
subsequent actions that will alter the world. e.g : a
“If you keep screaming, I’ll hit you” Promise b
“Will you come to my birthday?” Offer
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In a the speaker promises to the hearer if the hearer keeps screaming, the speaker will hit her or him. In b the speaker asks for offering to the hearer
whether the he arer will come to the speaker’s birthday or not.
b. Declarative
A declarative is a speech act which changes the state of affairs in the world such as decrees or declarations. The acts include passing sentence, blessing,
firing, bidding, and excommunicating. The relationship between the world and a speaker’s words is bidirectional; declaratives have a double direction of fit both
words-to-world and world-to-words. For example, during the wedding ceremony or in the court the act of marriage or sentence are performed:
e.g : a “Now I pronounce you husband and wife” Declarative
b “The court decide you guilty”
Declarative In a the speaker states that he or she pronounces the hearers are a husband and a
wife. In b the speaker states that the court decides the hearer’s guilty. After the
utterances are produced, the status of the audience the world is changed. c.
Directive A directive counts as an attempt to get the hearer to perform some future
action. Directive is a speech that has the function of getting the listener to do something, such as ordering, suggesting, requesting, challenging, defying or
commanding . This act focuses on the speaker’s behavior. A speaker is attempting
to alter the world in some way with words. Hence, directives represent a world-to- words fit: the speaker is attempting to bring the world in line with words.
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e.g : a “Why don’t you do the task?”
Suggestion b
“May I borrow your pencil?” Request
c “Come here”
Command In a the speaker asks for reason in form of giving suggestion to the hearer why
he or she does not do the task. In b the speaker asks for request to the hearer whether the speaker may borrow the hearer’s pencil or not. In c the speaker
commands the hearer to come there. d.
Expressive An expressive counts as an attempt to express a psychological state. An
expressive is a speech act in which the speaker expresses feeling and attitudes about something, such as thanking, appreciating, complaining, greeting,
apologizing, and congratulating. For expressive, there is no fit between words and the world. Instead, the point of an expressive is simply to express the speaker’s
inner psychological state or to express a particular attitude that is represented by the propositional content of the utterance.
e.g : a “Thank you”
Thank b
“The food is delicious” Appreciate
In a the speaker thanks to the hearer. In b the speaker appreciates the speaker that the food is delicious.
e. Assertive
An assertive counts as an attempt to represent an actual state of affairs, to commit the speaker to something being the case. With assertive a speaker is
attempting to depict the nature of the world such as stating of fact, asserting,
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concluding, informing, predicting, and reporting. Assertive represent a words-to- world fit.
e.g : a “Yamaha is made in Japan”
Information “This is a Japanese motorcycle”
Information In a the speaker gives an information to the hearer that Yamaha is made in
Japan. In b the speaker also gives an information to the hearer about the Japanese motorcycle.
In Speech acts and second language learning, Schmidt and Richards 1980, p. 156 conclude that speech acts are not comparable across cultures‖ and each
culture defined a certain conventionalized norm for interpreting each speech act. From theory above the researcher can conclude that speech act is a sentence or
utterance which has both propositional meaning and illocutionary force. To have a brief way of distinguishing what a speaker means by uttering words, sentences,
and expressions, on the one hand, and what the words, sentences, and expressions mean.