Lecture 2: Speech acts

This is the first reflection as requested by Mr Deng. Well, I really enjoyed today's lesson, especially the short survey that we are tasked to do. It makes me realize how powerful speech (or speech arts) can be.

I really agree with what Mr Deng has said, “Writing is a good thing to promote thinking”. Both writing and speech are parts of a broader subject call “Communication”. Both are a mirror of a set of social values which one belongs to.

Speech is the most basic and most important foundation of a culture. Why do I say that? The first thing in learning a new culture is often through speaking the language of the culture. It is through speech that we can communicate with one another more freely and easily. And if you don’t understand a culture’s language, how might you be able to communicate?

Other then the few examples of speech arts that were discussed, below are a few more which I can think of:

“Watch out, there’s a hole on the ground!"

I will then be trying to use speech to warn my friend about the potential danger.

“Please pass me the jacket”

In this case, I am using speech to make a request.

“Lets’ see who will get there first!”

I will then be using speech to challenge someone to take on the race.

“No, its not me who did that”

In this instance, I am using speech to protest against something which is not done by me.

If you guys are interested, you can go to this link : http://dewey.petra.ac.id/jiunkpe_dg_713.html

Apparently, it studies speech acts used in Garfield’s comics.