Presentation topic speech acts and speech events types of speech acts; felicity conditions; speech events

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITYFACULTY OF ENGLISHTOPIC: Speech acts and speech events: Types of speech acts; Felicity conditions; Speech events ID’ Class:231_ENTH2931_01Supervisor: Dương Thị Hồng T

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITYFACULTY OF ENGLISH

TOPIC: Speech acts and speech events: Types of speech acts; Felicity conditions; Speech events

ID’ Class:231_ENTH2931_01

Supervisor: Dương Thị Hồng Thắm

Ha Noi, 2023

MEMBER LIST AND ASSESSMENT

I INTRODUCTION

A 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 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 do not function as barriers to determining the intended meaning We are attuned in everyday conversation not primarily to the sentences we utter to one another, but to the speech acts that those utterances are used to perform: requests, warnings, invitations, promises, apologies, predictions, and the like Recognition of the significance of speech acts has illuminated the ability of language to do other things than describe reality To help guide you in the right direction, group 5 of us would like to discuss the topic: “Speech acts and speech events: Types of speech acts; Felicity conditions; Speech events”

II DEVELOPMENT1 Utterance

1.1 Definition

An utterance is a spoken or written expression, typically consisting of one or more words, that conveys a complete thought, statement, question, or command It is a unit of language that communicates meaning and can be a single word, a phrase, a sentence, or even a longer piece of discourse Utterances are the basic building blocks of communication and are used to convey ideas, emotions, information, and intentions in

Performative Function: Performative utterances are a specific type of speech act in which the act of speaking itself is the main action In other words, when someone makes a performative utterance, they are not merely conveying information or describing something; they are actually performing an action through their speech.

- Promises: When someone says, "I promise to do it," they are not just saying they

will do something; they are committing to doing it, and the utterance itself constitutes the promise.

- Commands: If someone says, "Please close the door," they are not just describing

a state of the world; they are issuing a command, and the act of speaking is what makes it a command.

- Marriage Vows: During a wedding ceremony, when a person says, "I do," they

are not merely stating a fact; they are actively getting married by making that declaration

Performative Verbs: Performative utterances often involve specific verbs known as performative verbs, which explicitly indicate the performative nature of the statement Examples of performative verbs include "promise," "declare," "order," "request," and "apologize."

Illocutionary Force: Performative utterances have illocutionary force, which means they are meant to produce a particular effect or bring about a specific outcome For example, an apology is meant to express remorse and seek forgiveness, and this is achieved through the act of apologizing.

Constative Utterance

Descriptive Function: Constative utterances, in contrast, serve primarily to describe or report facts, events, or states of affairs When someone makes a constative utterance, their primary aim is to convey information and represent the world as they perceive it.

- Statements of Fact: "The Earth orbits the Sun."

- Narrations: "She went to the store and bought some groceries."- Descriptions: "The room is painted blue.

Lack of Illocutionary Force: Constative utterances lack the same kind of illocutionary force found in performative utterances They do not inherently bring about an action or commitment; rather, they provide information or make claims about reality

Truth Value: Constative utterances can be evaluated in terms of their truth value That is, they can be judged as true or false based on whether they accurately represent the state of affairs they describe.

2 Speech acts

2.1 Definition

2.1.1 What is Speech acts?

A speech act is an utterance that serves a function in communication We perform speech acts when we offer an apology, greeting, request, complaint, invitation, compliment, or refusal…

A speech act, then, is best described as “in saying something, we do something”, (but not physically) such as when a minister says, “I now pronounce you husband and wife”.

A speech act might contain just one word, as in "Sorry!" to perform an apology, or several words or sentences: "I’m sorry I forgot your birthday I just let it slip my mind."

Speech acts include real-life interactions and require not only knowledge of the language but also appropriate use of that language within a given culture In a speech act, words are used to do something, not just to say something.

John L Austin, a British philosopher, first introduced speech act theory in his 1959 book “How to Do Things with Word” This published series of lectures defined his theory about performatives This is a type of speech in which a person's words are causing something to happen and not just making a statement Rather than simply describing or stating facts, some words perform an action or create something new For example, when both people in a marriage ceremony say "I do," they are causing the marriage to happen Other examples of performatives include naming a ship and making a bet Example:

Greeting: "Hello, Sarah How's your day been so far?"

Request: "Could you please email me the report by the end of the day?"

Complaint: "I've called customer support three times this week, and my issue still

In speech act theory, utterances have two kinds of meaning:

Propositional meaning (also known as locutionary meaning) This is the basic literal meaning of the utterance which is conveyed by the particular words and structures which the utterance contains There are two types of locutionary act: Utterance acts: where something is said (or a sound is made) and which may not have any meaning For example: Oh! or Huh? - is an utterance (communication is not intended - it is just a sound caused by surprise.)

Propositional acts: where a particular reference is made Example: "The brown ship" (something is referenced, but no communication may be intended)

Illocutionary meaning (also known as illocutionary force): are the real actions which are performed by the utterance, where saying equals doing, as in betting, believing, daring, warning, etc The performance of an act in which something is said (vs the general act of saying something) The illocutionary force is the speaker's intent.

Example: informing, ordering, warning, undertaking.

Example: "I promise to pay you back"- is an illocutionary act (it intends to communicate)

The illocutionary meaning of "I promise to pay you back" is the speaker promises to pay something for the hearer in the future.

2.2.1 Austin's classification

Austin (1975) establishes five categories of speech act based on broad classes of illocutionary force They are as follows: Verdictives, Exercitives, Commissives, Behabitives and Expositives

a) Verdictives

Verdictives are acts (formal or informal) in which a verdict, estimate or appraisal (as acquitting, reckoning, assessing, diagnosing) is given, usually by someone in a position of power to give that appraisal Verdictive is a judicial act, it refers to issues of truth and falsity.

Example: Announcement of a Meeting Opening: "I would like to announce that the meeting is now open."

"By the decision of the leadership team, the meeting is officially declared open." → In this example, the declaration of the meeting's opening is a verdictive action, and it inaugurates a formal event - the meeting By uttering these sentences, the speaker creates a new social reality, announcing that the meeting has commenced and inviting everyone to participate.

b) Exercitives

Exercitives are dealing with the giving of a decision in favor of or against a certain course of action, or advocacy of it.

Exercitives involve the exercise “of powers, rights, or influence.” Austin’s examples of exercitives include “appointing, urging, warning…”

Example: Making a Bet:

Speaker A: "I bet you $20 that it's going to rain tomorrow." Speaker B: "You're on! I accept your bet."

→ In this example, Speaker A is not merely stating a belief or making a claim; they are performing an exercitive speech act by initiating a bet By saying, "I bet you $20," Speaker A is offering a wager, and Speaker B's response, "I accept your bet," confirms the acceptance of the bet This utterance is not just conveying information; it is an action that binds both parties to a financial agreement based on the outcome of the weather c) Commissives

Commissives commit the speaker to an action or intention They include promises as well as mental commitments like taking one side of an argument.

Example: Making a Promise:

Speaker A: "I promise I will help you move next weekend." Speaker B: "Thank you! That means a lot to me."

→ In this example, Speaker A is making a commitment or promise to assist Speaker B in moving This is a commissive speech act, as Speaker A is expressing their intention to perform a specific action in the future, and Speaker B acknowledges and appreciates the commitment.

d) Behabitives

Behabitives comprise reaction to a person's behavior and describe attitudes to someone else’s behavior There are obvious connections with both stating or describing what our feelings are and expressing.

The action of a behabitive is the adoption of an attitude towards the social behavior of others, and Austin's examples are “apologizing, congratulating, commending, condoling, cursing, and challenging”.

It is not always easy to say what is or is not a behabitive, and Austin himself was less than clear on them, admitting that the category seems a little too "miscellaneous"

Example: Describing Behavior:

Speaker A: "She behaved admirably during the crisis, remaining calm and helping others."

Speaker B: "Yes, her conduct was truly commendable."

→ In this example, Speaker A is using behabitives to describe someone's behavior during a crisis Phrases like "behaved admirably" and "conduct was commendable" are used to evaluate and describe the person's actions in a specific situation Behabitives are often used to express opinions and judgments about how someone conducts themselves in various circumstances.

e) Expositives

Austin acknowledges the broad scope of this category, but moves on to describing the even vaguer expositives, which he defines as “making plain how our utterances fit into the course of an argument or conversation, how we are using words, or, in general, are expository”.

Expositives are used in acts of exposition involving the expounding of views, the conducting of arguments, and the clarifying of usages and of references.

Examples are 'I reply', 'I argue', 'I concede', 'I illustrate', 'I assume', 'I postulate'” 2.2.2 Searl’s classification

Generally, searl’s classification is part of the type of speech There are five types of general functions performed by speech acts: commissives, directives, declarations, representatives, and expressives.

a) Commissive

Commissives are those kinds of speech acts that speakers use to commit themselves to some future action They express what the speaker intends There are some signals that relate to commissive: promises, threats, refusals, pledges, and, as shown in All of them can be performed by the speaker alone, or by the speaker as a group member

In using a commissive, the speaker undertakes to make the world fit the words (via the speaker).

Example: I will be back in the afternoon —> expressing the “promise” that the speaker will come back.

Leave me alone or I will call the police —> expressing the “ threat” The threat is performed at “ call the police” It means that the police represent power, which makes people have to implement.

b) Directive

Directives are those kinds of speech acts that speakers use to get someone else to do something They express what the speaker wants They are commands, orders, requests, suggestions ,and as illustrated in They have both positive and negative meanings.

In using a directive, the speaker attempts to make the world fit the words (via the hearer).

Example: Please, take a seat.

When I choose to buy an apartment, the first priority in my mind is that the apartment has a ceiling air conditioner —> expressing “requests”.

Why don’t we go outside to enjoy dinner? —> expressing “ suggestion” c) Declaration

Declarations are those kinds of speech acts that change the state of affairs in the world

The speaker has to have special institutional role, in a specific context, in order to perform a declaration appropriately.

In using declaration, the speaker change the world via words Eample: Priest: As of right now, you and she are legally wed —> expressing of Priest changes the state in social of two people Referee: You are out.

d) Expressive

Expressives are those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker feels They are apologize, complaints, thank you, congratulations, pleasure, like, dislike, joy or sorrow.

Expressives can be caused by something the speaker does or the hearer does, but they are about the speaker’s experience.

In using an expressive, the speaker makes words fit the world (of feeling) Example: A: Mom, I won the first prize of English Contest.

B: Congratulations!

My friends apologize to you for not inviting you to the party e) Representative

Representatives are those kinds of speech acts that state what the speaker believes to the case of not

Statements of fact, conclusions, descriptions, claims or reports are examples of the speaker representing the world as they believe it is

In using representative, the speaker makes words fit the world.

Example: This building is Ocean Park.

Pham Nhat Vuong is a person who is rich and have multi-assets Table notice:

X = situation

Representatives make words fit the world S believes X

Directives make the world fit the words S wants X Commissives make the world fit words S intends X

2.3 Felicity conditions

2.3.1 Definition

In speech act theory, felicity conditions are the conditions which must be fulfilled for a speech act to be satisfactorily performed or realized In other words, in order for an utterance to achieve its illocutionary force, certain conditions must be met These conditions relate to the conversational and situational context and the roles, abilities and beliefs of the speaker and listener.

Example “I sentence you to two years of prison!”

If the speaker was not a judge in a court, this performance would be inappropriate For example, the felicity conditions necessary for promises are:

Example: “The students promised their teacher to do their homework” 1 The sentence is used which states a future act of the speaker Meaning: The students will do their homework.