I think the session today was interesting and enriching in several ways. I learnt that speech acts exist as part and parcel of everyday life. i.e when a person in authority adjourns or dismisses a meeting or discussion etc. A key characteristic of speech acts that I would take home would thus be that it is a form of performative utterance in which the word or phrase spoken carries force/power when uttered by people of significant authority, status, power or position.
I think that with my newly acquired insights in this matter, it will be interesting to observe the many occurrences and variations of speech acts that occur in everyday conversations such as in school, family amongst friends etc and to see how these speech acts differ across different language and cultural groups. Personally, I think that one has to exercise and develop a heightened sensitivity and respect towards such differences and diversity so as to avoid the case of intercultural miscommunication.
Another interesting aspects of the session today was when we learnt about the different categories of responses towards compliments. I found this rather enriching as prior to today's session, I did not know that there were so many varied ways and categories in which people could respond to compliments :) Another interesting fact was when seeing research findings of the statistical differences of rejecting and accepting compliments between American-English speakers and Chinese speakers. Indeed the way different cultures and people groups respond to compliments does show a lot about their value systems. i.e compliments are often accepted in American culture due to a positivist view of oneself and rejected in Chinese culture due to the importance of being modest.
Hence, in all, I feel that the insights and newly acquired knowledge on speech acts which I have learnt today would enable me to be more sensitive and observant to the daily occurrences and utterances of speech acts in everyday situations :)
Bernanke's lecture series
14 years ago
Current studies have shown a marked increase in acceptance of compliments by the Chinese Speakers and I agree that compliments in particular, might have contributed to a better insight on speech acts for most of the class.
ReplyDeleteYour entry well summarizes what we have covered in class. But at the end of the day, it's still the sensitive and compassionate attitude towards the cultural others that counts more in a successful cross-cultural communication.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, being more sensitive and aware of the values, practices and language use of other cultural groups will help us be better communicators when relating to them. It will also prevent alot unnecessary miscommunication and avoid offending them. Also, other than the different responses of various cultural groups to compliments, I believe the amount of compliments we give also vary. People of certain cultures tend to be more generous in their praises and compliments too.
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