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Speech acts and language teaching

Previous surveys of speech act theory are to be found in Schmidt and Richards (1980) and, in this journal, Levinson (1980). As some time has now passed since the publication of these two articles, a new look at developments in this important area of linguistic theory for language teaching is perhaps now due. Whereas the two previous articles were very much on the theoretical side, more of a balance between theory and practical applications will be presented here. The tremendous impact of functional approaches bears witness to the significant influence of speech act theory on language teaching. Although more recently there has been something of a return to renewed emphasis on language structure, it is probably safe to say that the use of language functions (speech acts) in syllabus and materials design is here to stay, whether as a central organising principle, as originally proposed by Wilkins (1973, 1976), or as a secondary one, with functions developing around a core grammatical component, along the lines proposed by Brumfit (1979). Although, as Hawkins (1981: 167) points out, the germ of the functional syllabus can be found as far back as Sweet's The practical study of languages (1899) and was developed further by Palmer (1917) and Ogden and Richards (1923), its adoption in contemporary times is attributable to Wilkins (1973, 1976) and his proposals for a 'notional syllabus'. Wilkins, basing his ideas on Jespersen's notional categories in The philosophy of grammar (1924), proposed three types of meaning unit: semanticogrammatical categories, categories of modality, and categories of communicative function. The last of these three, categories of communicative function, are related by Wilkins to the speech act theories of Austin (1962) and Searle (1969).