A Speech Act Analysis of Selected Student-Lecturer Conversations in English in the University of Ilorin

Abstract

In every social and linguistic intercourse, an act is performed which has a positive or negative reaction on either of the interlocutors. Sometimes, the outcomes of these discourses are resultant effects of the social variables of relative power and social distance that exists between the participants. Undoubtedly, discourse which exists in the context of the academic milieu exhibits such phenomena. Hence, this paper investigates the functional significance of acts performed via language and the communicative goal of such actions in lecturer-student conversations in the University of Ilorin. Using Searle’s (1969/1975) taxonomy of Illocutionary acts as a benchmark, thirty oral discourses which were recorded and selected between lecturers and students from various strategic locations on the campus are transcribed and analysed qualitatively and quantitatively to underline the directness and indirectness of the acts in the conversations. It is observed that the desire to be polite usually necessitates indirectness in the conversations especially by the students whose utterances exhibit preponderant use of indirect speech acts of directives. A major reason is to present their requests so as not to appear impolite towards the lecturers. In contrast to the students’ utterances, the lecturers’ utterances demonstrate more of direct speech acts directives which involve rebuking, asserting and requesting in order to get the students to have something done to their benefits among other grounds. The study concludes that the acts used by the interlocutors are tacitly guided by differences in power and social distance.