Communicative Competence Strategies In Various Speech

Situations

Prepared by:

MARIAN A. HABLA

BNHS

Work in groups of eight and read the following scenes.

• Scene 1: Someone making an announcement to the public

• Scene 2: Two small groups of people discussing something separately

• Scene 3: One person talking to himself

• Scene 4: Two people speaking with each other on the phone

• Scene 5: A reporter appearing live on screen

Weave the scenes together into a story. You are free to interchange the order of the scenes.

Act out your story and present it to the class within five minutes.

Let’s Converse!

Intrapersonal

This refers to communication thatcenters on one person where the speakeracts both as the sender and the receiver ofmessage.

Types of Speech Context

Interpersonal

This refers to communication betweenand among people and establishes personalrelationship between and among them.

Types of Speech Context

Dyad Communication - communication thatoccurs between two people.

Types of Interpersonal Comm.

Small Group - communication that involves at least threebut not more than twelve people engaging in a face-to-face interaction to achieve a desired goal. In this type ofcommunication, all participants can freely share ideas ina loose and open discussion.

Types of Interpersonal Comm.

Types of Interpersonal Comm.

Public – communication that requires you todeliver or send the message before or in front ofa group. The message can be driven byinformational or persuasive purposes.

Types of Interpersonal Comm.

Mass Communication – communication thattakes place through television, radio,newspapers, magazines, books, billboards,internet, and other types of media.

According to Joos (1968), there are five speechstyles. Each style dictates what appropriatelanguage or vocabulary should be used orobserved.

Types of Speech Style

This style is private, which occurs between oramong close family members or individuals. Thelanguage used in this style may not be shared inpublic.

Intimate

This style is common among peers and friends.Jargon, slang, or the vernacular language areused.

Casual

This style is the standard one. Professional ormutually acceptable language is a must in thisstyle.

Consultative

This style is used in formal settings. Unlike the consultative style, this is one-way.

Formal

This style is “frozen” in time and remainsunchanged. It mostly occurs in ceremonies.

Common examples are the Preamble to theConstitution, Lord’s Prayer, and Allegiance tocountry or flag.

Frozen

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.

Definition of Speech Acts

According to J. L. Austin (1962), a philosopher oflanguage and the developer of the Speech ActTheory, there are three types of acts in everyutterance, given the right circumstances orcontext. These are:

Three Types of Speech Act

Locutionary act is the actual act of uttering.

“Please do the dishes.”

Illocutionary act is the social function of what is said.

By uttering the locution “Please do the dishes,” the

speaker requests theaddressee to wash the dishes.

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.

Three Types of Speech Act

There are also indirect speech acts which occur when there is nodirect connection between the form of the utterance and theintended meaning. They are different in force (i.e., intention) fromthe 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 hasthe ability to hand a plate of rice, it actually indirectly requests theaddressee to pass the rice to the speaker.

Austin also introduced the concept of performativeutterances: 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.

Performatives

As a response to Austin’s Speech Act Theory,John Searle (1976), a professor from theUniversity of California, Berkeley, classifiedillocutionary acts into five distinct categories.

Searle’s Classifications ofSpeech Act

Assertive – a type of illocutionary act in whichthe speaker expresses belief about the truth of

a proposition. Some examples of an assertive actare suggesting, putting forward, swearing,

boasting, and concluding.

Example:

No one makes better pancakes than I do.

Searle’s Classifications ofSpeech Act

Directive – a type of illocutionary act in which thespeaker tries to make the addressee perform anaction. Some examples of a directive act areasking, ordering, requesting, inviting, advising,and begging.

Example:

Please close the door.

Searle’s Classifications ofSpeech Act

Commissive – a type of illocutionary act whichcommits the speaker to doing something in thefuture. Examples of a commissive act arepromising, planning, vowing, and betting.

Example:

From now on, I will participate in our groupactivity.

Searle’s Classifications ofSpeech Act

Expressive – a type of illocutionary act in whichthe speaker expresses his/her feelings oremotional reactions. Some examples of anexpressive act are thanking, apologizing,welcoming, and deploring.

Example:

I am so sorry for not helping out in our groupprojects and letting you do all the work.

Searle’s Classifications ofSpeech Act

Declaration – a type of illocutionary act which brings a changein the external situation. Simply put, declarations bring intoexistence 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 bringsabout the person’sunemployment, thus changing his external situation.

Searle’s Classifications ofSpeech Act