Acumen:
International Journal of
Multidisciplinary Research
ISSN: 3060-4745
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Acumen: International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research
SPEECH ACTS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS IN COMMUNICATION
Teshaboyeva Nafisa Zubaydulla qizi
Jizzakh branch of the National University of Uzbekistan
named after Mirzo Ulugbek
The Faculty of Psychology, the department of Foreign languages
Philology and teaching languages
102-23 group Erkaboyeva Sarvinoz Xolmurod qizi
Abstract:
Speech act is a part of pragmatics where there are certain aims beyond
the words or phrases when a speaker says something. Speech acts are acts that refer to
the action performed by produced utterances. People can perform an action by saying
something. Through speech acts, the speaker can convey physical action merely
through words and phrases. The conveyed utterances are paramount to the actions
performed. In regard to the English as a foreign language, there are things to consider.
It is easy for the speakers or listeners to determine the intended meaning of utterances
if they are spoken in the mother tongue. Factors such as idiomatic expressions and
cultural norms are not function as barriers to determine the intended meaning.
Keywords:
pragmatics, speech acts, norms and idiomatic expressions
A.
DEFINITION OF SPEECH ACTS
Communication has always been a necessity in human life. Through
Communication has always been a necessity in human life. Through communication,
the trade of thought among people, which directly contributes to the development of
the quality of life itself, can be performed. The ability to percept utterances in
communication can determine the actions followed. Communication can be conveyed
through verbal and nonverbal communication. Buck (2002) states that there are two
types of communication, they are verbal and nonverbal communication. Verbal
communication is the way of communicating messages by using words as elements.
Nonverbal communication is the way of communicating messages by using gesture,
Acumen:
International Journal of
Multidisciplinary Research
ISSN: 3060-4745
IF(Impact Factor)10.41 / 2024
Volume 2, Issue 5
273
Acumen: International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research
div movements, eye contact, facial expression, or general appearances as the
elements. Pragmatics is a study which belief is what is communicated is more than
what is said. The utterances that the speakers produce in communication contain deeper
sense than the actual meaning of the words or phrases themselves.
Yule (1996:3) states that pragmatics has consequently more to do with the analysis
of what people mean by their utterances than what the words or phrases in those
utterances might mean by themselves. Pragmatics also strongly related with context or
situation when something is being said, thus it is very important for the speakers to
focus on the context.
Leech (983: 6) also states that pragmatics is the study of meaning which is related
to the speech situations. In accordance to Leech statement, Yule (1996) argues that
pragmatics should also consider aspects of context such as who people are talking to,
when, where, and under what circumstances that will determine the way they say and
what they want to say.
Yule (1996:3) states that there are four areas which pragmatics is concerned with:
1. Pragmatics is the study of speaker meaning. 2. Pragmatics is the study of contextual
meaning. 3. Pragmatics is the study of how to get more communicated than it is said.
4. Pragmatics is the study of the expression of relative distance. In the broad sense,
through pragmatics we must be able to grasp the message of the utterances by being
aware that the words or phrases contain deeper meaning than literal meaning of what
is spoken. In line with this, Richard and Schmidt (2002) argue that pragmatics is the
study of the use of language in communication related to sentences and the context and
situations in which they are used. In the scope of pragmatics, there are some factors
that should be considered. These factors establish the very definition of pragmatics
itself. The factors are Implicature, Speech Acts, Presupposition, Context, Adjacency
Pairs, and Deixis and Distance. Speech act, a variety of verbal communication and also
a subdivision of pragmatics, often takes place in verbal and nonverbal communication.
Yule (1996) states that speech acts are a study of how the speakers and hearers use
language. Bach (1979) explains that an action in verbal communication has message
in itself, so the communication is not only about language but also with action. In
conclusion speech act is the utterance that occurs and act refers to an action. There are
certain aims beyond the words or phrases when a speaker says something. Austin (in
Tsui, 1994: 4) explains that speech acts are acts that refer to the action performed by
produced utterances. In line with this, Yule (1996: 47) states that speech acts is action
Acumen:
International Journal of
Multidisciplinary Research
ISSN: 3060-4745
IF(Impact Factor)10.41 / 2024
Volume 2, Issue 5
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Acumen: International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research
which is performed via utterances. Stating the same idea, Birner (2013) also says that
uttering something means doing something. Here, people can perform an action by
saying something. Through speech acts, the speaker can convey physical action merely
through words and phrases. The conveyed utterances are paramount to the actions
performed. B.
TYPES OF SPEECH ACTS
There are three types of acts in the speech acts, they are locutionary, illocutionary,
and perlocutionary. a. Locutionary Locutionary speech act is roughly equivalent to
uttering certain utterance with certain sense and reference, which again is roughly
equivalent to meaning in traditional sense (Austin, 1962: 108). In line with this, Cutting
(2002: 16) states that locutionary is what is said. also proposed by Yule (1996) who
states that locutionary act is the act of producing meaningful utterances. The example
of the locutionary speech act can be seen in the following sentences: 1. It’s so dark in
this room. 2. The box is heavy. The above two sentences represent the actual condition.
The first sentence refers to the lighting of the room and the second sentence refers to
the weight of the box. b. Illocutionary The illocutionary act is performed via the
communicative force of an utterance, such as promising, apologizing, offering (Yule,
1996:48). This act is also called the act of doing something in saying something. The
most significant level of action in a speech act is the illocutionary act because the force,
which has been desired by the speakers, determines this act. Illocutionary act can be
the real description of interaction condition. For example: 1. It’s so dark in this room.
2. The box is heavy. Based on the examples above, the first sentence shows a request
to switch the light on and the second sentence shows a request to lift up the box. c.
Perlocutionary Hufford and Heasley (1983:250) states that perlocutionary act is the act
that is carried out by a speaker when making an utterance causes in certain effect on
the hearer and others. Perlocutionary act is also the act offering someone.
Perlocutionary act refers to the effect the utterance has on the thoughts or actions of
the other person. A perlocutionary act is specific to the circumstances of issuance, and
is therefore not conventionally achieved just by uttering that particular utterance, and
includes all those effects, intended or unintended, often indeterminate, that some
particular utterance in a particular situation cause. For example: 1. It is so dark in this
room. 2. The box is heavy English Education: Jurnal Tadris Bahasa Inggris, 9 (1),
20016, p-ISSN 2086-6003 English Education: Jurnal Tadris Bahasa Inggris, 9 (1),
2016, 5 Based on the example it can be inferred that the first sentence is uttered by
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someone while switching the light on and the second sentence is done by someone
while lifting up the box.
B.
CLASSIFICATION OF SPEECH ACTS
Speech acts can be classified into five categories as Searle in Levinson (1983:
240) states that the classifications are representatives, directives, commissives,
expressive, and declarations. a. Representatives Representatives are speech acts that
the utterances commit the speaker to the truth of the expressed proposition. The
utterances are produced based on the speaker’s observation of certain things then
followed by stating the fact or opinion based on the observation. When someone says
“she’s beautiful”, the speaker can state the sentence based on the fact or just give his
or her own opinion about physical condition of a person. It also states what the speaker
believes to be the case or not. Statements of fact, assertions, conclusions, and
descriptions are all examples of the speaker representing the world as he or she believes
it is. For example when someone says “The earth is flat”, it represents the speaker’s
assertions about the earth. The speaker has opinion that the earth is flat. Representatives
speech act can be noted by some speech acts verb, such as: remind, tell, assert, deny,
correct, state, guess, predict, report, describe, inform, insist, assure, agree, claim,
beliefs, conclude. Directives Directives area speech acts that speaker uses to get
someone else to do something. These speech acts include requesting, questioning,
command, orders, and suggesting. For example, when someone says “Could you lend
me a pencil, please?” the utterance represents the speaker requests that the hearer to do
something which is to lend him a pencil. c. Commissives Commissives are speech acts
that the utterances commit the speaker to some future course of action, these include
promising, threatening, offering, refusal, pledges. For example when someone says
“I’ll be back”, represents the speaker’s promise that he/she will be back. d. Expressives
Expressives are speech acts that the utterances express a psychological state. These
speech acts include thanking, apologizing, welcoming, and congratulating. For
example, when someone says “don’t be shy, my home is your home.” The utterance
represents the speaker’s expression that he/she welcomes someone. e. Declarations
Declarations are speech acts that the utterances effect immediate changes in the
institutional state of affairs and which tend to rely on elaborate exta- linguistic
institutions. These speech acts include excommunicating, declaring war, christening,
firing from employment. For example “you are dead to me.”
C.
SPEECH ACT IN SECOND LANGUAGE
In the second language situation there are things to consider when it comes to
speech act. It is easy for the speakers or listeners to determine the intended meaning of
Acumen:
International Journal of
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ISSN: 3060-4745
IF(Impact Factor)10.41 / 2024
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utterances if they are spoken in the mother tongue. Factors such as idiomatic
expressions and cultural norms are not function as barriers to determine the intended
meaning. When it comes to foreign language, those factors could hindrance someone’s
ability to truly understand the meaning of utterances. It is hard to perform speech acts
in a second language because learners may not know the idiomatic expressions or
cultural norms in the second language or they may transfer their first language rules
and conventions into the second language, assuming that such rules are universal.
Because the natural tendency for language learners is to fall back on what they know
to be appropriate in their first language, it is important that these learners understand
exactly what they do in that first language in order to be able to recognize what is
transferable to other languages. Something that works in English might not transfer in
meaning when translated into the second language. For example, the following remark
as uttered by a native English speaker could easily be misinterpreted by a native
Chinese hearer: Sarah : "I couldn’t agree with you more.” Cheng: "Hmmm…."
(Thinking: "She couldn’t agree with me? I thought she liked my idea!") (CARLA). In
order to grasp the messages of utterances, one needs to factor in the context when the
words are uttered. Hymes (1974) proposed the SPEAKING model of speech analysis.
According to Hymes, in order to speak a language correctly, one does not only need to
learn its vocabulary and grammar, but also the context in which words are used. In the
speaking model aspects of the linguistic situation are considered and applied to various
components of a discourse sample or a communicated message. SPEAKING model of
speech analysis (Hymes, 1974 S - Setting and Scene - The setting refers to the time and
place while scene describes the environment of the situation or type of activity.
(classroom, bar, coffee shop, morning, friendly conversation) 2. P - Participants - This
refers to who is involved in the speech including the speaker and the audience, inter-
viewer, caller, performer. 3. E - Ends - The purpose and goals of the speech along with
any outcomes, functions or effects of the speech. 4. A - Act Sequence - The order of
events that took place during the speech including form and content. 5. K - Key - The
overall key, tone, mood or manner of the speech. (serious, sarcastic, formal) 6. I -
Instrumentalities - The form and style of the speech being given. Channel (verbal,
nonverbal, face to face, telephone, SMS,) Code (emoticons, dialect or language variety)
7. N - Norms - Defines what is socially acceptable at the event, the rules that govern
interaction and interpretation. 8. G - Genre - The type of speech that is being given.
(greeting, joke, apology, lecture) Based on the theory of SPEAKING, it is possible to
determine the intended meaning of utterances by analyzing the factors mentioned. The
perception of meaning of utterances can be different based on the context. The time,
Acumen:
International Journal of
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ISSN: 3060-4745
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place, purpose, participant, tone, the media, rules, and type of speech determine the
intended meaning of utterances.
D.
SPEECH ACTS in ELT
In teaching the Speech Act in the classroom the teacher or instructor should
consider several things, since English for Indonesian students is the foreign language.
The barrier mentioned previously can be found in the classroom setting. When teaching
the language expression such as giving advice could be misinterpreted into something
offensive. Someone could easily interpret advicegiving acts as an act of criticism.
When non-native speakers interact in a second language, they tend to transfer L1
pragmatic rules into the L2 without realizing the negative impact they may have (Blum-
Kulka, 1983). In addition, even when advice is warranted, non-native speakers of
English with many different L1s tend to rely on forms associated with direct advice, or
softened advice, such as should, or had better (Altman, 1990). Not only in advise-
giving act, acts such as requests, apologies, refusals, and compliments, have frequently
been identified as particularly problematic for EFL/ESL learners at all levels
(Fujinomori, 2004). There are three different levels of goals can be achieved in teaching
speech acts in the classroom depending on the amount of time available, and the depth
of understanding that teachers would like their students to develop. These goals
proposed by Fujimori (2004) are: 1. Conscious Rising, 2. Knowledge Building, and 3.
Productive Development. The goals of teaching speech acts in the classroom should be
directed in rising consciousness of the students that utterances in English as foreign
language could lead to misinterpretation. It is imperative to accurately understand the
intended meaning by analyzing the utterances. By understanding the norms and
idiomatic expressions of the first and second language the students could determine the
message of the utterances so that it could expand their knowledge resulting in the
ability to perform the speech act flawlessly.
E.
RELATED RESEARCH
The intended meanings of utterances sometimes hide behind the words uttered.
In line with the assumption of speech acts itself that when people say something they
do something. As mentioned previously that speech acts have three division, namely
Locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary. The utterances that people hear
everyday almost always contain meaning that needs to be analyzed in order to grasp
the real intended meaning. The ability to analyze the hidden meaning occasionally
brings about different result. The utterances could be in the form of spoken words or
even in the lyric of a song, speech, movie dialogue. A research conducted by Isnaniah
(2015) found out that Directive is the dominant type of illocutionary act used by Woody
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in movie Toy story 3 (2013:38). It implies that directive has a great role in the movie.
Woody mainly uses the statement of asking, advising, begging, forbidding, ordering,
requesting, suggesting, recommending, demanding, insisting, and permitting. It means
that Woody mainly used representative in communicating each other in the movie such
as asking, ordering, commanding, requesting, suggesting, etc.
CONCLUSION
The ability to understand the hidden message of utterance is really important to
have. Some words or utterances could be misdirected into something unpleasant if we
are not careful. By understanding Pragmatics and speech acts we can get clearer
understanding of the utterances. In Indonesia, English serves as the foreign language.
There are things that exist in English that do not exist in Indonesians such us certain
idiomatic expressions. Those expressions are barriers that could hindrance someone to
fully grasp the actual message of words or utterances. In the effort of raising the
awareness of those barriers speech acts could be socialized in the classroom. In
teaching certain expressions such as giving advice, complementing, and
congratulating, the teacher should have these three goals in mind, namely: raising
awareness, knowledge building, and productive development. The goals of teaching
speech acts in the classroom should be directed in rising consciousness of the students
that utterances in English as foreign language could lead to misinterpretation. It is
imperative to accurately understand the intended meaning by analyzing the utterances.
By understanding the norms and idiomatic expressions of the first and second language
the students could determine the message of the utterances so that it could expand their
knowledge resulting in the ability to perform the speech act.
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ISSN: 3060-4745
IF(Impact Factor)10.41 / 2024
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