Entry 1 : Speech Acts

Regardless of the language, country or inherent cultures, speech has all along been the primary way of communication and interaction between people. As a result, speech is second nature and to many, is simply an exchange of mere words in an effort to convey messages to one another.

At the beginning of the second class, however, I was introduced to the idea that speech played more than one instrumental role. The abstract concept of speech as a performance was thus established and a whole new spin was put on that simple word. The idea of speech being the central theme to a performance provided a unique perspective on what has always come naturally to most people. I have learnt that speech is deemed a performance in almost every form of usage as through it, we could be imploring, demanding, commending, teasing and even flirting.

There are variations in speech acts across cultural boundaries and this can be seen in the speech act of compliments. In the powerpoint slideshow which Dr Deng showed us, many of us found that the compliments paid in the Indonesian and Iranian culture did not amount to a compliment in the Singaporean context as we just could not relate to it. However, an important point which was brought up was that we should not use a “Singaporean” mindset to assess whether that is deemed a compliment or not as there are different cultural sensitivities that are taken into account when sentences are formed and speech is made.

In the last class, we also discovered that there were 4 main classifications when reacting to a compliment. We could choose to accept, return, deflect or reject it. I believe that the culture and surroundings which we have been brought up in play a major part in molding our responses to compliments. Juxtaposing American English speakers’ and Chinese speakers’ responses provides us with a stark contrast in itself. Statistics show that American English speakers are more prone towards accepting a compliment whilst the Chinese speakers have a greater tendency to a reject a compliment. I personally feel that the culture and environment plays a major part in this. The American culture leans more towards individualism whilst the Chinese culture places greater emphasis on collectivism, as a result, American English speakers are more willing to accept a compliment and the praise which is being showered upon them as they believe that individually, they have earned it. However, the Chinese generally do not believe in individual glory as they favour teamwork and group rewards, this results in a greater inclination towards rejecting compliments.

This has once again increased my awareness of the inherent differences between cultures with regards to a whole variety of situations including speech acts. Culture undoubtedly has a major influence on our actions and reactions, thus through broadening our horizons and understanding the variety of cultural inflections, our awareness will increase.

Lastly, in response to the video shown at the end of the class last session, I would like to end off by saying that there is no such thing as having a quota on the number of compliments paid in a day. The more the merrier, so we should all go on a compliment-frenzy once in awhile!

Thank you!
=]