ABSTRACT
Unit A2 describes speech act theory, which explores the functions of words, focusing on illocutionary force, ‘what is done in uttering the words’ - for example, inviting, advising, and apologising. The unit describes the macro-classes that speech acts fall into and explains the felicity conditions that have to be met for speech acts to be successfully performed. It differentiates between direct speech acts, or the literal meaning of the words, and indirect speech acts, which imply an underlying pragmatic meaning. The unit emphasises that ways of expressing speech acts vary from social group to social group and from culture to culture. Limitations of the approach are mentioned. The unit ends with a discussion of two main macro-functions of talk: the transactional, which is concerned with the transmission of factual information, and the interactional, which is involved in expressing social relations and maintaining social cohesion. The unit illustrates the theories by providing authentic examples from a variety of languages and types of media. Section B2 provides an example analysis, section C2 gives you the chance to analyse authentic texts, and section D2 introduces a reading by J. César Félix-Brasdefer.
