What is the speech act?

SPEECH ACT

We perform speech acts when we offer an apology, greeting, request, complaint, invitation, compliment, or refusal. A speech act is an utterance that serves a function in communication. 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.
Here are some examples of speech acts we use or hear every day:
Greeting:   "Hi, Eric. How are things going?"
Request:   "Could you pass me the mashed potatoes, please?"
Complaint:   "I’ve already been waiting three weeks for the computer, and I was told it would be delivered within a week."
Invitation:   "We’re having some people over Saturday evening and wanted to know if you’d like to join us."
Compliment:   "Hey, I really like your tie!"
Refusal:   "Oh, I’d love to see that movie with you but this Friday just isn’t going to work."

Speech acts are difficult to perform 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!")
An example of potential misunderstanding for an American learner of Japanese would be what is said by a dinner guest in Japan to thank the host. For the invitation and the meal the guests may well apologize a number of times in addition to using an expression of gratitude (arigatou gosaimasu) -- for instance, for the intrusion into the private home (sumimasen ojama shimasu), the commotion that they are causing by getting up from the table (shitsurei shimasu), and also for the fact that they put their host out since they had to cook the meal, serve it, and will have to do the dishes once the guests have left (sumimasen). American guests might think this to be rude or inappropriate and choose to compliment the host on the wonderful food and festive atmosphere, or thank the host for inviting them, unaware of the social conventions involved in performing such a speech act in Japanese. Although such compliments or expression of thanks are also appropriate in Japanese, they are hardly enough for native speakers of Japanese -- not without a few apologies!

Communicative, or pragmatic, competence is the ability to use language forms in a wide

range of environments, factoring in the relationships between the speakers involved and

the social and cultural context of the situation (Lightbown and Spada, 1999; Gass and

Selinker, 2001). Speakers who may be considered “fluent” in a second language due to

their mastery of the grammar and vocabulary of that language may still lack pragmatic

competence; in other words, they may still be unable to produce language that is socially

and culturally appropriate.

In general, speech acts are acts of communication. To communicate is to express a certain attitude, and the type of speech act being performed corresponds to the type of attitude being expressed. For example, a statement expresses a belief, a request expresses a desire, and an apology expresses a regret. As an act of communication, a speech act succeeds if the audience identifies, in accordance with the speaker's intention, the attitude being expressed.

Austin

The modern study of speech acts begins with Austin’s (1962) engaging monograph

How to Do Things with Words,

The point of Austin’s lectures was, in fact, that every normal utterance has both a descriptive and an effective aspect: that saying something is also doing something

Locutions, illocutions, and perlocutions

Locutionary acts, according to Austin, are acts of speaking, acts involved in the construction of speech, such as uttering certain sounds or making certain marks, using particular words and using them in conformity with the grammatical rules of a particular language and with certain senses and certain references as determined by the rules of the language from which they are drawn.

Illocutionary acts, Austin’s central innovation, are acts done in speaking (hence illocutionary), including and especially that sort of act that is the apparent purpose for using a performative sentence: christening, marrying, and so forth.

perlocutionary act, which is a consequence or by-product of speaking, whether intended or not. As the name is designed to suggest, perlocutions are acts performed by speaking. According to Austin, perlocutionary acts consist in the production of effects upon the thoughts, feelings, or actions of the addr

Austin classifies illocutionary acts into five types, i.e., verdictives, exercitives, commissives, behabitives, and expositives

SEARLE

Searle claims that four acts are characteristically performed in the utterance of a sentence:

a. Uttering words (morphemes, sentences) = performing utterance acts

b. Referring and predicating = performing propositional acts

c. Stating, questioning, commanding, promising etc. = performing illocutionary acts

Assertive :

speech acts that commit a speaker to the truth of the expressed proposition

reciting a creed

Directives :

speech acts that are to cause the hearer to take a particular action

requests, commands, advice

Commisives :

speech acts that commit a speaker to some future action

promises, oaths

Expressives :

speech acts that express the speaker's attitudes and emotions towards the proposition

congratulations, excuses, thanks

Declarations :

speech acts that change the reality in accord with the proposition of the declaration

pronouncing someone man and wife, pronouncing someone guilty

John Searle's theory of "indirect speech acts":

Searle has introduced the notion of an 'indirect speech act', which in his account is meant to be, more particularly, an indirect 'illocutionary' act

he describes indirect speech acts as follows: "In indirect speech acts the speaker communicates to the hearer more than he actually says by way of relying on their mutually shared background information, both linguistic and nonlinguistic

In connection with indirect speech acts, Searle introduces the notions of 'primary' and 'secondary' illocutionary acts. The primary illocutionary act is the indirect one, which is not literally performed. The secondary illocutionary act is the direct one, performed in the literal utterance of the sentence (Searle 178). In the example:

(1) Speaker X: "We should leave for the show or else we’ll be late."

(2) Speaker Y: "I am not ready yet."

Here the primary illocutionary act is Y's rejection of X's suggestion, and the secondary illocutionary act is Y's statement that she is not ready to leave. By dividing the illocutionary act into two subparts, Searle is able to explain that we can understand two meanings from the same utterance all the while knowing which is the correct meaning to respond to.