Claret College of Isabela

Senior High School

P.O. Box 8692 Roxas Avenue, Isabela City, Basilan Province, 7300 Philippines
Tel. No. (062) 200 - 7697 / 200 – 7009 Telefax: (062) 200 - 3865

NAME:___________________________________________ DATE: ___________________

GRADE AND SECTION: ______________________________ OUTPUT NO: ____________

Grade 11 – Oral Communication in Context

Types of Speech Act

LESSON/OUTPUT TITLE)

LESSON OBJECTIVE:

 Identify the three types of speech

 Classify speech act by providing example in a particular situation
 Respond appropriately and effectively to a speech act

Values Integration: Having the enthusiasm to express what you feel or you want to convey to the
receiver of the message. (Truth)
Activity 1. Video Analysis
1. Watch the first video of telephone conversations through this link. Video 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpZFJctBUHQ

2. Discuss your answers to the following questions.

a. What greeting is used by the customer service agent?
b. What form of personal identification is used by the agent?
c. What pre-closing signals are used by the agent?
d. What closing is used by the agent?

Definition of Speech Acts

A speech act is an utterance that a speaker makes to achieve an intended effect. Some of the
functions which are carried out using speech acts are offering an apology, greeting, request,
complaint, invitation, compliment, or refusal. A speech act might contain just one word or
several words or sentences. For example, “Thanks” and “Thank you for always being there for
me. I really appreciate it” both show appreciation regardless of the length of the statement.

Three Types of Speech

Act According to J. L. Austin (1962), a philosopher of language and the developer of the Speech
Act Theory, there are three types of acts in every utterance, given the right circumstances or
context. These are:
1. Locutionary act is the actual act of uttering.
“Please do the dishes.”
2. Illocutionary act is the social function of what is said.
By uttering the locution “Please do the dishes,” the speaker requests the addressee to wash the
dishes.
3. Perlocutionary act is the resulting act of what is said. This effect is based on the particular
context in which the speech act was mentioned.
“Please do the dishes” would lead to the addressee washing the dishes.
There are also indirect speech acts which occur when there is no direct connection between the
form of the utterance and the intended meaning. They are different in force (i.e., intention) from
the inferred speech act.
For example, read the following utterance.
“Can you pass the rice?”
Inferred speech act: Do you have the ability to hand over the rice?
Indirect speech act: Please pass the rice.
So while the utterance literally asks the addressee if he or she has the ability to hand a plate of
rice, it actually indirectly requests the addressee to pass the rice to the speaker.

Performatives
Austin also introduced the concept of performative utterances: statements which enable the
speaker to perform something just by stating it. In this manner, verbs that execute the speech act
that they intend to effect are called performatives. A performative utterance said by the right
person under the right circumstances results in a change in the world. Note that certain
conditions have to be met when making a performative utterance.
For example, the phrase “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” when uttered by an
authorized person such as a judge will have the actual effect of binding a couple in marriage.
However, if the same statement is uttered to the same couple in the same place by someone who
is not authorized to marry them—as in the case of the accompanying picture, a robot—then there
is no effect whatsoever because a condition was not met.

Searle’s Classifications of Speech Act

As a response to Austin’s Speech Act Theory, John Searle (1976), a professor from the
University of California, Berkeley, classified illocutionary acts into five distinct categories.
1. Assertive – a type of illocutionary act in which the speaker expresses belief about the truth of
a proposition. Some examples of an assertive act are suggesting, putting forward, swearing,
boasting, and concluding.
Example: No one makes better pancakes than I do.
2. Directive – a type of illocutionary act in which the speaker tries to make the addressee perform
an action. Some examples of a directive act are asking, ordering, requesting, inviting, advising,
and begging.
Example: Please close the door.
3. Commissive – a type of illocutionary act which commits the speaker to doing something in the
future. Examples of a commissive act are promising, planning, vowing, and betting.
Example: From now on, I will participate in our group activity.
4. Expressive – a type of illocutionary act in which the speaker expresses his/her feelings or
emotional reactions. Some examples of an expressive act are thanking, apologizing, welcoming,
and deploring.
Example: I am so sorry for not helping out in our group projects and letting you do all the work.
5. Declaration – a type of illocutionary act which brings a change in the 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, bidding, passing a sentence, and
excommunicating.
Example: You are fired!
By saying that someone is fired, an employer causes or brings about the person’s unemployment,
thus changing his external situation.
Always keep in mind that speech acts include concrete life interactions that require the
appropriate use of language within a given culture. Communicative competence (i.e., the ability
to use linguistic knowledge to effectively communicate with others) is essential for a speaker to
be able to use and understand speech acts. Idioms and other nuances in a certain language might
be lost or misunderstood by someone who does not fully grasp the language yet.
NAME:___________________________________________ DATE: ___________________
GRADE AND SECTION: ______________________________ OUTPUT NO: ____________

Complete the following table with information related to Searle’s Classification of Speech Acts.

Reflect on what you have learned after taking up this lesson by completing the chart below.