via language in some conventional way to arrive at some outcome. This may include an obvious central speech act, such as ―I hate it‖, as in a speech event of expressing
feeling, but there is also a case in which it includes other utterances that lead up to and sub-sequently reacting to that central action. Yule believes that in most cases, a
‗request‘ is not made by means of a single speech act suddenly uttered. It has a speech event in it.
Example: Manna
: Hi, Annas. I‘m so terrible right now. Annas
: What‘s up, sist? Manna :
I can‘t do this math. Annas : Is it difficult?
Manna : Yeah, look at my face now, is it easy? Annas : What topic is this?
Manna : Algebra, do you have a minute? Annas : Sure.
Manna
: I know you‘re a genius. The interaction above may be called as a ‗requesting‘ speech event without a
central speech act of request. There is no actual request from Manna to Annas to do anything. This conversation can be characterised as ‗request‘ because the question ‗do
you have a minute?‘ as a ‗pre-request‘. The response in this context is taken to be acknowledgement not only of having time available, but a willingness to help and this
is not stated in any word in the interaction. The use to learn speech events in this sense is also trying to get extended forms of communication not by just looking at the
surface meaning itself.
7. Speech
a. Definition of Speech
A speech is one of public speaking skills that is commonly conducted in many occasions, such as in the inauguration nights, graduation ceremony,
political campaigns, and so on. Based on Cambridge A dvanced Learner‘s
Dictionary, a speech can be defined as a formal talk given usually to a large number of people on a special occasion.
Slagell 2009:1 states that a speech is one of public speaking that has a communication interaction in the form in which the oral communication is
shared with more than one listener and there is one person in the interaction who does most of the communicating. The challenges of public speaking are
heightened, however, since the speaker shares meaning not only through words but also through body, voice, and visuals.
b. Speech Situation Aspects
In a communicative activity, aspects of speech situation should be taken into account. Leech 1983:13 mentions the aspects of speech situation as
follows:
1 Addressers or addressees
Addressers are the other term used to refer to speakers or writers, whereas addressees refer to hearers or readers.
2 The context of an utterance
Context is any background knowledge assumed to be shared by speakers and hearers
and which contributes to hearer‘s interpretation of what speaker means by a given utterance.
3 The goals of an utterance
In Leech‘s view, the goal of an utterance is to talk about the intended meaning of the utterance, or speaker‘s intention in uttering it. The term
goal is more neutral than intention because it does not commit its user to
dealing with motivation, but can be used generally of goal-oriented activities.
4 The utterance as a form of act or activity: a speech act
Pragmatics deals with verbal acts or performances which take place in particular situations. That means, pragmatics deals with language at a
more concrete level than grammar.
5 The utterance as a product of a verbal act.
There is another sense in which the word ‗utterance‘ can be used in pragmatics: it can refer to the product of a verbal act, rather than to the
verbal act itself. This can be exemplified by ‗Would you please close the door?
‘ in different intonation. One might be described as a sentence, or a question, or a request. However, it is agreed that talking about question
and sentence would be more on a technical term while utterance is more than that, it also suits the particular situation involved.
c. Classical Rhetoric Speech
