xli There is no overt signal of cohesion am ong t hese ut t erances. They do form
coherent discourse t o t he ext ent t hat A’s first ut t erance funct ions as a request , t hat B’s reply funct ions as an excuse for not com plying w it h A’s
request , and t hat A’s final rem ark is an accept ance of B’s excuse. 4.
St rat egic Com pet ence This com ponent is com posed of m ast ery of ver bal and non- verbal
com m unicat ion st rat egies t hat m ay be called int o act ion for t w o m ain reasons: a t o com pensat e for breakdow ns in com m unicat ion due t o
limit ing condit ions in act ual com m unicat ion e.g. mom ent ary inabilit y t o recall an idea or gram m at ical form or t o insufficient com pet ence in one or
m ore of t he ot her areas of com m unicat ive com pet ence; and b t o enhance t he effect iveness of com m unicat ion e.g. deliberat ely slow and soft speech
for rhet orical effect .
F. Speech Acts
In general, people perform act ion t hrough ut t erances w hen t hey at t em pt t o express t hem selves. Act ions perform ed t hrough ut t er ances are generally called speech
act s Yule, 1996:47. The t erm of speech act covers “ act ion” such as request ing, quest ioning, and perform ing 1996:100.
An English philosopher, John L. Aust in not ices t he fact t hat w hen a speaker says som et hing, he is doing som et hing. The condit ion of doing som et hing in saying
som et hing is w hat t he expert calls as speech act s in Levinson 1983:236.
xlii Aust in in Thom as 1995: 49 pr oposed t hree kinds of act s:
a. Locut ionary Act : t he act ual w ords ut t ered
b. Illocut ionary Act : t he force or int ent ion behind t he w ords
c. Perlocut ionary Act : t he effect of t he illocut ionary on t he hearer
There is an exam ple t o give a clear underst anding about t he act s above: “ It ’s hot here.” in Thom as, 1995: 49
The locut ionary act is t he ut t erance “ It ’s hot here” it self, w hile t he illocut ionary act is t he speaker int ends t o say “ I w ant som e fresh air ” , and t he
perlocut ionary act is t hat som eone m ight opens t he w indow .
G. Classification of Speech Acts
While Searle in Trosborg, 1995: 14-16 proposed five m acro- classes of illocut ionary act :
1. Represent at ives
The speaker’s purpose in perform ing represent at ives is t o com m it him herself t o t he belief t hat t he preposit ional cont ent of t he ut t erances is t rue. In an
at t em pt t o describe t he w orld, t he speaker t ries t o m ake “ t he w ords m at ch t he w orld” .
Exam ple: The sun arises at t he east . 2.
Direct ives
xliii In performing direct ives, t he speaker t ries t o get t he hearer t o com m it him
herself t o som e fut ure course of act ion verbal or non- verbal, or usually direct ives are defined as all at t em pt s by t he speaker t o get t he hearer t o do
som et hing e.g. request , com m and, advice, et c. As opposed t o represent at ives, direct ives at t em pt t o m ake “ t he w orld m at ch t he w ords”
Exam ple: Bring m e a cup of coffee. 3.
Com misives In com misives, t he speaker com mit s his herself in varying degrees t o som e
fut ure course act ion. As was t he case wit h direct ives, t he direct ion of fit is “ World t o w ords” . They are pr om ises, offers, t hreat s, et c.
Exam ple: I’ll give it t o you t om orrow . 4.
Expressives The purpose of t his class of illocut ionary act s is to express t he speaker’s
psychological st at e of m ind about or at t it ude t o som e prior act ion or st at e of affairs. There is no direct ion of fit , as t he int ent ion is neit her t o describe t he
w orld nor t o exert an influence on fut ure event s; rat her, t he t rut h of t he preposit ional cont ent is t aken for grant ed. They are t hanking, com plaint ,
apology, et c. Exam ple: Please forgive me?
5. Declarat ions
xliv Declarat ions require ext ralinguist ic inst it ut ions for t heir perform ance; it t akes a
priest t o christ en a baby, a dignit ary t o nam e a ship, a judge t o sent ence a defendant , et c. The direct ion of fit is bot h “ w ords t o w orld” and “ w orld t o
w ords” , as t he act ual expression of t he declarat ion brings about a change in realit y.
Exam ple: I pronounce you a husband and w ife. a priest in chur ch
H. Direct and Indirect Speech Act
