Cooke 1
Arlene Cooke
Emily Litle
English Composition I, 121-001
12™ March 2018
A response to Speech Acts, Genre, and Activity Systems,
How texts Organize Activity and People.
Charles Bazerman’s Speech Acts, Genres, and Activity Systems: How Texts
Organization Activity and people is truly amazing. This article is unlike anything I have ever
read or even thought of, It talks about how everything we do and every place we go are
organized by texts. Although Charles Bazermans speech is harder than necessary, his message is
one that really made me think, I understand the Speech Acts, Genre, and Activity Systems are
the actions and reactions of speech. The locutionary act, ilocutionary force, and the
perlocutionary effect are the ways that Bazermans speech acts are shown, The philosopher John
Austin in his book “how to do things with words”, argued that words not only mean things but
centered around communication
they do things.(371) I believe this to be true. Human activity
and that is exactly what words written or spoken do. When we think of what is literally being
said it is the locutionary act. When we think of what is being taken from those words we are
thinking of the illocutionary force. When an action is taken from the way that a person perceives
those words the perlocutionary effect is taking place. These three acts depend on one another to
execute properly, However, there are many factors that determine how these acts will play out,
The locutionary act can be easily misconstrued. Bazerman uses the example of a person saying
“it is a bit chilly in this room”,371)Cooke 2
The other person may think that itis a request to turn the thermostat up or they may think
the comment was made in regards to the cold comment that was made shares Charles Bazerman
This is an example of illocutionary force that the locutionary created. However, the illocutionary
may or may not be understood the way it was meant, The locutionary force had the potential to
take the illocutionary in several different directions. The illocutionary force will determine the
direction that the perlocutionary effect goes. It depends on how each person responds to the
comment made. For example, Bazerman says that someone may think the speaker were trying to
change the topic of conversation when all they were trying to do was get the thermostat turned
up. A lot of this depends on how a person executes their message and what the circumstances
are.Bazerman says “Of course for our words to carry out their acts these words must be said by
the right people, in the right situation, with the right set of understandings.
The third act the perlocutionary effect is the final act of communication. It is the way that
the hearer is affected by the illocutionary. It is what will actually happen because of the way
something is taken, Bazerman Say’ that “The listeners, may take my comments to mean
something else entirely, such as a complain about the stringiness of the host or an attempt to
change the subject of an unpleasant conversation. “This three-leveled analysis of speech acts, -
‘what was literally stated, the intended act, the actual effect is applicable in written texts.
Bazerman 371 These three levels of speech acts go together with one another. With out one the
other could not exist. In my opinion these acts are quite remarkable. I agree with Charles
Bazerman that these acts are what define what we do day in and day out, We use these to
determine where we go what we do and how we react to someone else. There can be
complications in this as well. Sometimes the hearer may not want to cooperate with what we are
trying to say either. When we write it is harder for us to fix any misunderstanding that there mayCooke 3
be. When talking we can more easily explain what we mean but as I said earlier it doesn’t mean
that the hearer will go along with what we are saying. This is why It is important to explain the
best that we can when writing.
1 agree with what Bazerman that speech acts coordinate our daily activities. Speech and
communication is the base of everything. From when we wake up in the morning and tur on the
morning news to checking face book or reading a newspaper. With out communication we would
literally have no organization or planning, We would live like cave people still. Charles
Bazerman has a good point when he talks about the three speech acts. The locutionary, the
illocutionary, and the perlocutionary. I had never thought about the way speech works or how
many different ways a simple sentence can be taken, I find it fascinating. It helped me to
understand why some people just don’t get it. They communicate differently and if I want to get
iy point across I have to learn to communicate in their language. I likes the way that Bazerman
took a sentence and showed us how it can mean so many different things to all different people
That is why I try and be direct and to the point I don’t like to leave an opening for a
misunderstanding. It is important to learn this for effective communication in our lives. It not
only helps us speak but will also help us write. It teaches the importance of Bazermans message.
‘There are many places where Bazermans message can be used if applied in the right way. He
takes the three steps that are important for function in life. Bazermans message is how the world
is organized and shows why it matters.