Reflections of Speech Events

In my view, I think speech events encompass the macro aspects of communication systems, as compared to speech acts which encompass the micro aspects of communication systems. This is mainly because speech events consist of a series of speech acts. However, there exists a significant difference between the two in that speech events are governed by rules for the use of speech. In addition, there is relatively more analysis required for speech events because there are several components, details and description to be considered as compared to speech acts. These include the genre, topic, purpose, setting, key, participants, message form, act sequence, rules for interaction and norms for interpretation. I think it is interesting that changing some of the above components can sometimes change the entire speech event; i.e when the purpose of the event is changed in the case of a professor changing his teaching approach from a lecture style to that of a tutorial discussion.

Finally, I think the activity/discussion which we had towards the end of the session aided my understanding as well as application of what I have learnt about speech events. We had an enriching and insightful discussion of common speech events in everyday life such as informal conversations over lunch etc; and breaking it down into its various components for a closer analysis. I personally feel that it would be great if we could have more time allocated for such group discussions during the future sessions as it would be very beneficial for our learning. :)