Western Mindanao State University

College of Liberal Arts

GRADUATE SCHOOL
Master of Arts in English Language Studies (MAELS)
Summer, S.Y. 2016-2017
Looking at the Speech Act Theory

A Critical Reflection

By Kent Jestoni Q. Gabo

1. What concept/s or idea/s that has/have much impact on you? Why?

The entire concept of Speech Act Theory as introduced by Austin (1962) and

further developed by Searle has great impact on me as a language teacher as it gives a

new perspective on the communication process. Austins philosophy is that a statement

not only describes a situation or states some facts, but also performs a certain kind of

action by itself. (Yoshitake, 2004)

Before I have encountered this theory, I viewed statements in any conversation

as merely propositions that can either be true or false depending on the underlying truth

conditions. However, this theory posits that utterances are actions in themselves, able

to perform functions such as praising, naming, commanding, and a lot more. It therefore

follows that our words bear so much weight that we must choose our words well so as

to achieve the speech act we intend to perform.

2. Relate such concept/s or idea/s to classroom, local, regional, and national

level.

Speech act has great implications in second language learning. Clearly, our

proficiency in a second language like English relies so much on our understanding of

locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts as expressed in different language

contexts. For instance, in one of the examples of Dr. Sulayman Amilasan in class, if a

non-native speaker does not understand the illocutionary force embedded in the

statement Im sorry, he/she as the listener would immediately interpret it as saying an

apology where in fact it may mean that the speaker is asking for clarification. This major

shift in meaning will be more understood if one has a good background on what speech

act is. This is echoed by the findings from a cross-cultural study by Cohen, Olshtain,

and Rosenstein (1986) showed that non-native speakers (NNS) were not aware to

certain sociolinguistic distinction that native speakers (NS) make, for example 'excuse

me' versus 'sorry' or 'really sorry' versus 'very sorry'.

In the classroom, many researches anchored on the Speech Act Theory have

been made in relation to language teaching. The explicit teaching of illocutionary

meaning and conducting certain types of speech acts has value for students (Blumka-

Kulka, House, Kasper 1997, Schmidt ,1996, Bardovi-Harlig,1999). Cohen (1998: 66-7)

advocates the need for explicit teaching and notes that it does not take a long time for

students to put the knowledge from speech act training into use, if the learners want to

fit in and to be accepted in the target culture. This has implications in a national scale

especially in curriculum development.

3. Comments, Reactions, and/or Reflections

Undeniably, the theory of speech acts has been a major influence on recent literary

theory (Gorman, 1999). In my opinion, it is deservingly so for it opened fresh

possibilities in linguistics studies which I can apply in case I intend to pursue a graduate

thesis. As mastery on speech acts is one of the competencies in the Oral

Communication subject in Senior High School in which I am a teacher of, I can further
enrich and enhance my teaching techniques of the same this coming school year

through the new learnings I had from my Discourse Analysis class.

Western Mindanao State University

College of Liberal Arts
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Master of Arts in English Language Studies (MAELS)
Summer, S.Y. 2016-2017
Appropriateness of Communication

A Critical Reflection

By Kent Jestoni Q. Gabo

1. What concept/s or idea/s that has/have much impact on you? Why?

Mr. Ryan Jimenez, in his lecture on Communicative Appropriateness, has quoted

Anita Fetzer with a proposition that a well-formed discourse is not necessarily

appropriate, but appropriate discourse is necessary well-formed. This concept has

much impact on me as it expresses a salient truth about communication. Since

appropriateness is the extent to which an utterance is perceived as suitable for a

particular purpose and a particular audience in a particular social context (Nordquist,

2017), a discourse in this context should be well-formed syntactically, semantically and

pragmatically.

This means that we tailor fit the way we communicate to the context we are in

and the people we are talking to. It would be offensive, for example, if we talk to our

district supervisor the same way as we talk to a very close friend. This would constitute

to a communicative inappropriateness which will violate discourse conventions.

2. Relate such concept/s or idea/s to classroom, local, regional, and national

level.
 This concept has so much impact on classroom instruction for it means that we

do not only teach the grammar of English but also teach our students to use the

language appropriately in different social contexts. This entails the understanding of

different registers as well as choice of words that will fit a certain communicative

instance.

Recently, Senator Tito Sotto was drew flak online for his inappropriate language

during the CAs hearing for Secretary Taguiwalos appointment. His statements were not

well-formed and inappropriate in the context of the hearing which is supposed to be

formal and serious. He seemed to think that he can use the same antics he uses in Eat

Bulaga where in fact it is a different social context. This is why appropriateness of

communication is a very important factor when you are in public service.

3. Comments, Reactions, and/or Reflections

Looking at the concept of appropriateness of communication, it seems like we

only need common sense to know that we must communicate differently in different

contexts. However, there are really those who seem to use a one-size-fits-all approach

in conversation that sometimes they sound rude, disrespectful, or just too formal.

In my perspective as a teacher, this is something that should be emphasized in

instruction. There is a need for differentiated communicative activities within the

classroom so that the learners will be exposed in different social contexts that they can

apply as they interact naturally outside the classroom. There must be activities wherein

they are casually conversing with classmates or friends. At the same time, activities

were they are engaged in a formal situation such as mock interviews and speech

deliveries. There are thousands of study-based interactional strategies out there that
can be used for this purpose. One helpful book is that by Francisca Snchez (2010)

entitled Interactive Classroom Strategies & Structures for Success.

As what was emphasized in class, learning the grammar of a language is just the

tip of the iceberg. We must also know how to use what we know in syntax effectively

and appropriately.

Western Mindanao State University

College of Liberal Arts
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Master of Arts in English Language Studies (MAELS)
Summer, S.Y. 2016-2017
Transcription

A Critical Reflection

By Kent Jestoni Q. Gabo

1. What concept/s or idea/s that has/have much impact on you? Why?

The concept that has much impact on me as an educator who is mandated by

the Department of Education to continually conduct action research for the improvement

of the department is phonetic transcription. According to Wells (1996), The principal

reason for using phonetic transcription is easily stated. When we transcribe a word or

an utterance, we give a direct specification of its pronunciation. If ordinary spelling

reliably indicated actual pronunciation, phonetic transcription might be unnecessary; but

often it does not. This means that with phonetic transcription, I can easily identify

learners difficulties in producing phonetic sounds and therefore I will be able to effect

appropriate interventions to help them.

Still from Wells (ibid): or the language learner, a passive acquaintance with

phonetic transcription enables him or her to extract precise and explicit information on

pronunciation from a dictionary, bilingual or monolingual. Without this information, a

learner risks being misled either by an inadequately trained ear or by the dazzling effect

of the ordinary spelling.

2. Relate such concept/s or idea/s to classroom, local, regional, and national

level.

Knowledge of phonetic transcription by educators and educational administrators

up to the national level will be of great help in improving instruction especially those

concerning pronunciation. As a study conducted by Safari, et. al. (2013), it was

confirmed that there is significant effect of phonetic transcription as footnotes on Iranian

EFL learners' pronunciation improvement. A similar study may be conducted in our

context to confirm the implications of using phonetic transcription in recording naturally-

spoken language especially English.

Furthermore, as educators, we must take into consideration Wells proposition

that we can show differences of homonyms by transcribing them. This clearly shows

that phonetic transcription can be of help to language teachers.

3. Comments, Reactions, and/or Reflections

Although I do not intend to emphasize that phonetic transcription is better than

orthographic transcription, I do believe that the former has a place in language studies

especially if we take into consideration the context of our learners. Some of them are

not readily exposed to native speakers of English so teaching them how to read and

write phonetic transcriptions will help them improve their production of the phonetic

sounds. If this is not possible, I can initiate an action research as stated earlier and

create interventions which I think will fit to my learners needs.

 I believe additional lectures or workshops on this topic must be undergone since

the time allotted for the lecture of Miss Evanessa Villacrusis was too limited. This is for

us to be truly proficient in transcribing discursive undertakings which we can actually

use as language teachers.

CRITICAL REFLECTIONS ON SELECTED

TOPICS

IN DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

In partial fulfillment of the Course ESL 231

Discourse Analysis

Submitted to

Prof. Sulayman Amilasan, Ph. D.

 Submitted by

Kent Jestoni Q. Gabo

May 17, 2017