Entry # 4 Speech Acts

Entry # 4: Speech Acts

Video retrieved  from TED Ed  . Last visited: May29th, 2020. Available at:  https://ed.ted.com/lessons/speech-acts-constative-and-performative-colleen-glenney-boggs#watch

Speech Acts

John Langshaw Austin proposed, in 1962, that speech acts are forms of speech that express or presents information from an individual, along with a definitive action that is taken. In addition,   the speech acts can be analysed in three levels: locutionary act, where the semantical meaning is literal; illocutionary force, defined as the force or the hidden meaning behind the locutionary act; and the  perlocutionary effect, understood as the effect of the locutionary and illocutionary acts in the form of the listener's emotional or physical response.

Metacognitive analysis: 

During the process of watching the video on this new topic, I felt comfortable with the clear explanations and the supporting images, which I consider valuable as they substitue -in some way- the human presence. 

Whenever videos or powepoint files, as the one that twe were asked to do (through a speech act delivered from you, Stella -our teacher- to us, students for the previous entry, with significant perlocutionary effects of all kinds) enclose a variety of appropriate allusive images, they work as a needed support, providing a better chance to engage ourselves with the discourse at a deeper level.

Learning what a speech act is, as well as the way in which   performative acts act upon the world depending on their context and reception, discovering that both context and  reception create the felicity conditions (rules under which the performative can be enacted) helps us understand why some performative acts have more weight or effect than others. 

Now we know that, if the performative cannot be enacted, more performatives will follow. A familiar example could be: 

Performative: "Do not leave your homes during the pandemic. " 

In some cases, the performative will not meet the felicity conditions, and will lack the power to denote action. Then, new performatives will be produced: "You are under arrest", or "Go back to your house immediately" or "Please, son, was it that important to go to lucy's house?". 

In conclusion, I think that understanding these concepts is very useful for pedagogical purposes. The reason is that we definitely want our students to learn how to apply their linguistic knowledge of the second language in specific contexts correctly. If we show them the importance of gaining awareness on the social rules, we will pave their way to the desired felicity conditions.