11th Grade
ORAL
COMMUNICATION
WEEK 8
11th Grade
Types of
Speech Act
Week 8
Responds
appropriately and
effectively
to a speech act
EN11/12OC-Ifj20
What are the things I need to do?
define speech
01 acts 02 distinguish types
of speech act
recognize that Post-Activity
03 communicative
competence requires
04
understanding of
speech acts
VOCABULARY BUILDING:
IMPLICATION
IMPLY
Did she think Marites is
implying that she was
getting old?
In linguistics, a speech act is
an utterance that serves a
function in communication.
It is the action that the
speaker wants to provoke in
his/her listener’s thoughts.
People perform speech
acts when they want to
express an apology,
greeting, request,
compliment, invitation,
complaint, warning,
promise, refusal, or
declaration.
A speech act may contain a
word like “Sorry” to express an
apology like in the sentence,
“I am so sorry for not calling
you when I got home.”.
Speech acts require not only the
knowledge of the language but
also the appropriate use of
language in a given context. One
can say that speech acts are an
important aspect of
communication.
Speech Acts are actions done by
saying them. The listener must
first determine the type of act
being performed before he can
determine which way a speech
act is to be interpreted.
These speech acts are
categorized as follows:
Locutionary Acts
Locutionary acts are, according to
Susana Nuccetell and from Gary
Seay (from Philosophy of Language:
The Central Topics) 2007, “the mere
act of producing some linguistic
sounds or marks with a certain
meaning and reference.".
Locutionary Acts
Locutionary act refers to any
utterances that may contain
statements or words about
objects. It may be a word, or
even a phrase that has a
meaning.
Locutionary Acts
For example:
“It is raining.”
“My teacher is wearing a red dress
today.”
“I love dogs.”
Illocutionary Acts
Illocutionary act is the
acting part of the
speech act. It carries a
directive for the
audience.
Illocutionary Acts
It may be a command, an
apology, an expression of
thankfulness or just an
answer to a question for the
information of other people
in the communication
process.
Illocutionary Acts
There are two kinds of
illocutionary acts.
The first is called constantive,
or making something true or
false by saying it. This is
commonly done by someone
in authority like a judge or an
official.
Examples:
I name this dog Chubby.
You are free to leave.
You are not my friend
anymore.
The meeting is adjourned.
The second is doing
something by just saying it.
It is also called performative.
Examples:
I nominate Lancer for president.
I accept the challenge.
I promise to take care of you as
long as I live.
I challenge you to prove me wrong.
You are invited to my birthday
celebration.
Illocutionary acts can be
categorized into common
families of speech acts.
The following is John Searle’s
categories of illocutionary acts.
Each has its own illocutionary
purpose.
1. Assertive –
a type of illocutionary act in
which the speaker expresses
belief about the truth of a
proposition like boasting,
suggesting, asserting,
concluding, and swearing
Example:
I am still the best student
in class.
2. Directive –
a type of illocutionary act in
which the speaker tries to make
the addressee perform an action
by way of commanding,
requesting, begging, inviting,
pleading, or insisting
EXAMPLE:
Take me to church tomorrow.
3. Commissive –
a type of illocutionary act
which commits the speaker
to future actions such as
promising, planning, vowing,
and betting.
Example:
I will take you to school
every day starting
tomorrow.
4. Expressive –
a type of illocutionary act in
which the speaker expresses
his/her feelings or emotional
reactions.
4. Expressive –
Some examples of expressive
acts are thanking, apologizing,
welcoming, and deploring.
Example:
I am so sorry for not
wearing the complete
uniform today.
5. Declarative –
a type of illocutionary act which
brings a change in an 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, and bidding
Example: You are fired!
