Towards an Appraisal of Searle’s Pragmatic Theory

Abstract

Speech act theory examines communication activities which involve transacting meaning via reference-making. Language means in terms of internal and external referents; in line with this perspective, Searle’s (1969) speech act theory is immersed in referential process. This study investigates the theory not just by evaluating its strengths, but also by examining its points of failure as far as speech act theorizing is concerned. The theoretical framework of this study is Modular Speech Act Theory. Concerning the strengths of Searle’s speech act theory, this study concludes that: the theory evolves functional illocutionary act categories; it captures the pragmatics of speakers’ intention; it acknowledges the institutional nature of speech acts; and it explains deep structure representations of speech acts. However, a major weakness of the theory is its inability to elucidate certain dimensions of language use owing to the non-compliant nature of illocutionary acts and speaker-meaning.