Cultural Differences in Speech Act.pptVIP

Cultural Differences in Speech Act  What is Speech Act? Actions performed via utterances are generally called speech acts. Words can not only say things, but also do things. I. Speech act theory This is the first major theory in the study of language in use, which originated with the Oxford philosopher John Langshaw Austin. Austin’s first shot at the theory is the claim that there are two types of sentences: performatives and constatives. He argues that sentences like the following do not describe things. They can not be said to be true or false. The uttering of these sentences is , or a part of, the doing of an action. So they are called PERFORMATIVES. And verbs like NAME are called performative verbs. Felicity conditions ( simplified version suggested by Austin is as follows) i) There must be a relevant conventional procedure’ and ii) the relevant participants and circumstances must be appropriate. The procedure must be executed i) correctly and ii) completely. Very often, i) the relevant people must have the requisite thoughts, feelings and intentions, and ii) must follow it up with actions as specified.. II, compare the speech acts forms of addressing; invitation; refusal; greeting request” in different cultures especially in China and the USA. 1. Forms of address in different cultures Address behavior has great social and cultural implicatures. It symbolizes power and solidarity. Forms of address depend on culture, society, religion, age and gender. According to Brown and Gilman’s research findings, the use of address has two areas: reciprocal/symmetrical and nonreciprocal/ asymmetrical. Choosing the form of address depend on many factors and the forms will vary because of different situations. But generally speaking, the strategies of forms of address are as follows: (see 334) for comparison and explanation see334-342 of our textbook. Address The form of address in every language reflect social status of the speaker, of the addressee. O