UNIT 11: Speech Acts (I) - Request, Refusal and Acceptance PDF

11. Speech Acts (I): Request, Refusal and Acceptance ESTRATEGIAS PARA LA COMUNICACIÓN ORAL Y ESCRITA EN LENGUA INGLESA II Facultad de Lenguas y Educación Speech Acts Utterance defined in terms of a speaker’s intention and the effect it has on a listener. Speech-act theory was...

11. Speech Acts (I): Request, Refusal and Acceptance ESTRATEGIAS PARA LA COMUNICACIÓN ORAL Y ESCRITA EN LENGUA INGLESA II Facultad de Lenguas y Educación Speech Acts Utterance defined in terms of a speaker’s intention and the effect it has on a listener. Speech-act theory was introduced in 1975 by J.L. Austin and further developed by J.R. Searle. Kinds of speech acts → Representatives, Commissives, Directives, Declarations, Expressives. Difficult to perform in a second language because learners may not know the idiomatic expressions or cultural norms in that language or they may transfer their first language rules and conventions into the second language. 2 Representatives Commit a speaker to the truth of a proposition. Some cases are: asserting, stating, concluding, boasting, describing and suggesting. I am a great actor. Bill was a doctor. 3 Commissives Commit a speaker to some future action. For example, when promising, pledging, threatening, vowing or offering. I am going to help you. I’ll give you a lift tonight. 4 Directives Are used when the speaker attempts to get the addressee to carry out an action. Some cases are when requesting, advising, commanding, challenging, inviting, daring or entreating. You’d better study. Calm down. 5 Declarations Affect an immediate change of affairs. Some cases are when declaring, baptising, resigning, firing from employment, hiring or arresting. We find him guilty. I resign. 6 Expressives Refer to some sort of psychological state. For example, when greeting, thanking, apologising, complaining or congratulating. This dish is disgusting. I’m so sorry to hear that. 7 Asking for something 8 Can I / could I / may I / might I If you are requesting something for yourself, all of these forms are possible. May and might are considered to be more polite and more formal than can and could. Compare the following: - Can I ask you a favour? - Of course you can. - Could I ask you to pick Mike up from school tomorrow - Of course you can. - Could I possibly have another cup of tea? - I don’t think you should. You won’t sleep tonight. - If you’ve finished with the computer, may I turn it off? - Yes, please do. - Might I leave work a bit earlier today? I’ve got a doctor's appointment. 9  Might is more frequently used in indirect questions, which softens the request. Note the alternatives that can be used: - I wonder if I might leave work a bit earlier today - Would I be able to leave work a bit earlier today? - Would it be OK if I left work a bit earlier today? 10 Would you / Do you mind if I…? Similarly, if we use Do / Would you mind if I…? to make a request, we may be anticipating possible objections: - Would you mind if I put off talking to Ben? - I think you should speak to him today Note the difference between: Would you mind…? and Would you mind me/my…?: - Would you mind putting that in the freezer? (= you do it) - Would you mind me/my putting that in the freezer? (= I’ll do it) 11  I need is very direct and is usually used for urgent requests: - I need a doctor. - I need the fire extinguisher. Fast! I want is very direct and can sound impolite. We don’t normally use it to make requests: - I want to speak to the manager right now. 12 How to express requests in English Requests in English are usually made in the form of questions. When we make a request, we ask someone for something, or we ask someone to do something. Asking Saying Yes Saying No Can I...? Could I…? Could I possibly…? Yes, sure May I…? Yes, of course. Well, I’m afraid...+ reason Might I…? Yes, that’s fine. Well, the problem is... Is it all right if I...? Certainly. Sorry, but... Would it be OK if I…? Do you think I could...? Do/Would you mind if No, not at all. I...? No, of course not. 13 Asking others to do things 14 Would you…? / Could you…?/ Do you think you could…? If you are asking other people to do things, you would normally use Would you or Could you + infinitive. Do you think you could…? is also a very polite way of suggesting or requesting something. - Would you please bring the book I lent you? - Could you join us on Sunday? - Do you think you could arrive ten minutes early tomorrow? 15 Do you mind…? / Would you mind…? If you want to sound particularly polite, or if you think the answer may be negative, you can also use Would you mind + verb –ing - Would you mind switching off the IC you leave? - No, not at all! - Could you please switch off the IC when you leave? - Yes, certainly! - Would you mind helping me with the housework? - Could you give me a hand with the housework? Remember that Do you mind...? and Would you mind...? mean ‘Is it a problem for you?’ so the polite answer when we ‘say yes’ is ‘No’. 16  We sometimes use can you and will you to make requests, but they are more informal: - Mum, can you wake me at seven? - Will you send me an email tomorrow just to remind me to check the flights? We need is often used in work contexts by a boss or manager to ask for something to be done in a polite way: - We need to send the contract to Mike immediately. - We need someone to go to the seminar in Berlin on next week. 17  When we are not sure if someone will be able to do what we ask, we sometimes use you wouldn’t …, would you? or you couldn’t …, could you?: - You wouldn’t drop this letter into the post office for me, would you? - You couldn’t stop at an ATM, could you? 18 How to express requests in English Asking Saying Yes Saying No Can you...? Could you...? Yes, sure. Would you...? Yes, of course. Well, I'm afraid + reason Will you...? Certainly. Well, the problem is Is it all right if you...? Sorry, but... Do you think you could...? Do you mind -ing...? No, not at all. Would you mind -ing...? Of course not. 19  How to express refusal in English When we refuse a request, an offer or an invitation, we could follow the following tips for polite and diplomatic language when saying ‘no’: - Make a statement of regret: I’m sorry…, I’d really like to, but… - Explain why the answer is ‘no’: I’m really busy right now. Retrieved from https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/ 538846/disapproval_dislike_refus - Offer an alternative, if possible: I might be able to do it next al_rejection_thumbs_down_icon week. 20 For example, when refusing invitations, we should first say thanks, then use a refusing phrase and give a reason, as can be seen in the picture below: 21 That would be great, but …. That sounds great, but… I’d love to help you, but right now I’m really busy with… I really appreciate the invite/offer, but… Normally I’d be able to, but right now I have to… Thank you for the offer, but my schedule is full at the moment. I wish I could, but right now I need to focus on… I’m sorry I can’t that night. I have to… That would be great, but I’m already working on…. Sorry, I'm afraid I can't… Unfortunately now is not a good time for me…. Sorry, but I wouldn’t particularly like to… Thank you, but it's not my idea of a fun afternoon out I wish I could come, but unfortunately… Sorry, I'm not really fond of driving for the fun of it That’s very kind of you, but I really have to get back to the city. Thank you (thank you for asking, thank you very much, etc.) but, I I wish I could help you, but … have to... 22  How to express acceptance in English In order to accept something in English in a polite way we could use phrases such as: Question Acceptance FORMAL Would you like a piece of Thank you, yes, I would. chocolate? I’d love some, thank you! Would you like to come to my Yes, I would love to attend your party tomorrow night? party. Thank you for the invitation. Yes, that sounds like fun. Thank you Retrieved from for inviting me. https://www.iconfinder.co INFORMAL m/icons/1398913/check_c ircle_correct_mark_succe Do you want some chocolate? Sounds great. ss_tick_yes_icon Sure, thanks. Do you want to come to my party Sure, thanks for the invite. tomorrow? Sounds great! I'll be there. 23