Oral Com 11: Speech Acts and Communicative Competencies

SPEECH ACTS

A speech act is an utterance that a speaker makes to achieve an intended effect

LOCUTIONARY ACT

It is the actual act of uttering.

ILLOCUTIONARY ACT

The performance of the act of saying something with a specific intention or illocution.

PERLOCUTIONARY ACT

It is the resulting act of what is said. This effect is based on the particular context in which the speech act was mentioned.

INDIRECT SPEECH ACTS

When a speaker does not explicitly state the intended meaning behind the utterance.

PERFORMATIVES

Statements which enable the speaker to perform something just by stating it.

ASSERTIVE

It is 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.

DIRECTIVE

It is 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.

COMMISSIVE

It is 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.

EXPRESSIVE

It is 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.

DECLARATION

It is 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.__

COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

It is the degree to which a communicator’s goals are achieved through effective and appropriate interaction

Communicative Competence according to Dell Hymes 1972

Communicative competence is that aspect of our competence that enables us to convey and interpret messages and to negotiate meanings

MEANING OF “WELL”

It refers to: accuracy, clarity, comprehensibility, coherence, expertise, effectiveness and

appropriateness

CANALE & SWAIN (1980)

* Linguistic /Grammatical Competence (Accuracy)
* Sociolinguistic Competence
* Discourse Competence
* Strategic Competence

LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE

It refers to what Chomsky calls linguistic competence and involves the mastering of the linguistic code including __vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, spelling and word formation.__

DISCOURSE COMPETENCE

It deals with the interpretation of individual message elements and is also related to the ability for combining ideas to achieve __**cohesion**__ in form and __**coherence**__ in thought.

SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPETENCE

It refers to the extent to which utterances are produced and understood appropriately in different __**social contexts.**

STRATEGIC COMPETENCE

It refers to the coping strategies used to start, finish, maintain or repair communication so as to overcome limitations in language knowledge.

**Relevance**

is simply saying things which are relevant to the conversation.

Quality

involves credibility or honesty. How true and correct are we saying?

**Quantity**

in conversations implies that we talk only of what is needed, no more, no less.

Manner

is saying things with clarity and order. Speak the truth as briefly and directly as possible to avoid ambiguity.