Email, chat, instant messaging, blogs, and newsgroups are now common ways for people to interact. Along with these new ways for sending, receiving, and storing messages comes the challenge of organizing, filtering, and understanding them, for which text mining has been shown to be useful. Additionally, it has done so using both content-dependent and content-independent methods.Unfortunately, computer-mediated communication has also provided criminals, terrorists, spies, and other threats to security a means of efficient communication. However, the often textual encoding of these communications may also provide for the possibility of detecting and tracking those who are deceptive. Two methods for organizing, filtering, understanding, and detecting deception in text-based computer-mediated communication are presented.First, message feature mining uses message features or cues in CMC messages combined with machine learning techniques to classify messages according to the sender's intent. The method utilizes common classification methods coupled with linguistic analysis of messages for extraction of a number of content-independent input features. A study using message feature mining to classify deceptive and non-deceptive email messages attained classification accuracy between 60\% and 80\%.Second, speech act profiling is a method for evaluating and visualizing synchronous CMC by creating profiles of conversations and their participants using speech act theory and probabilistic classification methods. Transcripts from a large corpus of speech act annotated conversations are used to train language models and a modified hidden Markov model (HMM) to obtain probable speech acts for sentences, which are aggregated for each conversation participant creating a set of speech act profiles. Three studies for validating the profiles are detailed as well as two studies showing speech act profiling's ability to uncover uncertainty related to deception.The methods introduced here are two content-independent methods that represent a possible new direction in text analysis. Both have possible applications outside the context of deception. In addition to aiding deception detection, these methods may also be applicable in information retrieval, technical support training, GSS facilitation support, transportation security, and information assurance.

In this thesis, I ask about the descriptive purchase on discursive events of some accounts of speech as action. To do so, I turn to speech act theory, which I read at first restrictively, and later more broadly, moving from John Langshaw Austin to John Rogers Searle to Judith Butler, appealing along the way to Charles Sanders Peirce, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Jean-François Lyotard and Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin. In so doing, I construe speech act theory as a genre (or set of genres) of theoretico-critical inquiry. By genre I mean a set of differentiated, recurrent forms of practice which have their own functions or ends, their own means, protocols and postulates: their own speaking positions and objects of representation or inquiry. For my purposes, then, speech act theory denotes a capacious genre of inquiry turning on the topic of speech as action. I take this topic to raise a range of rhetorical issues concerning the pragmatic question of discursive linking. To talk of discursive linking, I suggest, is minimally to presuppose notions of semiosis, of rhetorical situation or occasion and of rhetorical agency, with its attendant postulates of intention and responsibility. I thus read speech act theory rhetorically, as an open set of engagements with the question of how we do things with words: how utterances come to count as action, and how utterance action is described as having determinate consequences and effects. I begin in chapter 1 by reading Austin for his two tensively related, if not countervailing, descriptive tendencies: those of illocution and perlocution. In chapter 2, I attend to Searle as an exemplary development of an illocutionary inquiry, before examining Butler’s work on hate speech and performativity as a type of perlocutionary inquiry in chapter 3. Illocution and perlocution, I suggest, comprise distinct engagements with the questions of speech as action and discursive linking. Although postulates of semiosis and situation, and figures of responsibility, intention and agency are put to work in both illocutionary and perlocutionary inquiries, in each they work differently. This differential work, I argue, marks the differing capacities of illocutionary and perlocutionary inquiries adequately to describe a discursive event. Different construals of speech as action tell different tales of uptake or linking, enabling and constraining different accounts of discursive events. With this in mind, I turn by way of an extended example in chapter 4 to the caso Belsunce, a high-profile homicide case begun in Argentina in 2002. I do so to suggest that a focus on utterance actions as semio-discursive events relates the perlocutionary concerns discussed in chapters 1 – 3 to postulates of cultural memory-work, kairos and rhetorical community. Taken together, this range of concerns helps us to describe the mediatic uptake of the Belsunce case as a particular, complex semio-discursive event. But a description of a discursive event is of course itself a sign, something which, as Peirce notes, ‘stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity’ and which strives, in turn, to determine subsequent interpretant effects. In this respect, the critical description of discursive events is itself an instance of speech as action which cannot but continue to raise hermeneutic, rhetorical and semiotic questions of discursive upshot or uptake.

abstract: The current landscape of political speech is ripe for deep philosophical analysis yet has not been thoroughly investigated through the lens of speech-act theory. In this space, I believe I contribute something novel to the area, namely a notion of campaign promises that differs from standard promises that enables a new way of interpreting this kind of speech. Over the course of this paper, it is argued that Campaign Promises (CP) are non-trivially and philosophically distinct from the notion of Standard Promises (SP). There are many philosophical distinctions to draw, including moral, political and logical, but my focus is largely in philosophy of language. I engage the work of Searle, Austin and Wittgenstein among others to investigate what I take to be the following important differences from CP and SP: First, that CP and SP differ in the “best interest” condition, of the condition that a promise must be in the best interest of the promisee in order for that promise to obtain, which in turn, produces the effect of threatening those who do not want the promise to come about. Secondly, that CP serve to reinforce world views in a way that is non-trivially different from SP. To do this, I employ Wittgensteinian language game theory to bridge the gap between traditional Searlian speech act theory to more modern McGowan-style oppressive language models. Through this process I develop and defend this alternative way of understanding and evaluating CP and political speech. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Philosophy 2019

This dissertation offers an interdisciplinary analysis of some features of the Speech- Act Theory in biblical hermeneutics. It highlights some of the probable aspects of the studied analysis regarding hermeneutic issues within biblical and theological analysis. The paper shall describe the philosophical interpretation of the examination of the Speech-Act Theory. It will focus on the principles and standards of demarcating the Speech-Acts and allocating the written texts theory. The paper shall also describe the difference between ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ speech acts. The dissertation shall commence by analysing the main concerns about the speech act theory. It will concentrate on the works of Thiselton and Vanhoozer’s works and modifies their works with the aim of highlighting some of the key elements of their hermeneutics. Therefore, the dissertation shall offer the views of Thiselton and Vanhoozer and differentiate their two different views of the Speech-Act Theory in the field of the hermeneutics in search for a third option. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Dogmatics and Christian Ethics / MA / Unrestricted

The diploma thesis examines the role of convention in J. L. Austin's speech act theory. It describes the possibility of "how to do things with words": such an analysis of language will be suggested that does not focus on the category of truth when dealing with particular utterances but rather replaces it with the category of felicity of a speech act in the social context. After having offered the explication including the central points of the given theory, there starts the investigation of which parts of the speech act theory are conventionally based and what role do conventions play in the speech act theory as a whole.

Based on Austin and Searle¡¦s speech act theory and Argyris¡¦ organizational learning theory, this study investigates how defensive speech routines impact the level of communication comprehension by information system professionals. Relying on the eye tracker as tool to measure information attention of participating IS professionals, the present researcher has conducted experiments to evaluate how indirect and direct speech acts as well as defensive speech routines influence subjects¡¦ understanding of illucotionary forces embedded in the speeches. The findings suggest that the different speech acts exert significant influence on subjects¡¦ comprehension and information attention, and information attention in turn significantly influences comprehension. The results of this study may help researchers to further investigate the congitive processes involved in IS professionals¡¦ communication and aid practitioners in reducing dysfunctional organizational learning due to defensive speech routines.

This dissertation examines the developmental trajectory of online processing toward second language (L2) pragmatic comprehension. This goal stems from two shortcomings of previous research: (1) approaching L2 pragmatics as the acquisition of discrete phenomena through progressive stages (see Kasper, 2009), and (2) focusing narrowly on production. Building upon previous L2 pragmatic comprehension work (Carrell, 1981; P. García, 2004; Taguchi, 2005, 2007, 2008a, 2008b, 2011a, 2011b; Takahashi & Roitblat, 1994), the current study investigates the development of L2 Spanish request speech act comprehension by native English-speaking adult learners. The analysis involves accuracy, comprehension speed and the relationship between the two dimensions across three levels of directness over a 13-week period. Previous research was informed by skill acquisition theories (Anderson & Lebiere, 1998) to account for increased accuracy and decreased speed over time. Here, further analysis is based on Complexity Theory / Dynamic Systems Theory (CT/DST) (Larsen-Freeman, 1997; Larsen-Freeman & Cameron, 2008a; de Bot, Lowie, & Verspoor, 2007; Ellis, et al., 2009; Verspoor, de Bot, & Lowie, 2011) to account for the seemingly chaotic results often found in L2 research. The findings of the current study show significant overall improvement in accuracy and speed of Spanish request identification, and a moderate relationship between the two measures. However, the association between slower responses and higher accuracy in the current data contradicts skill acquisition theories. Rather, the theoretical framework of CT/DST provides a more authentic account of development. As such, the results indicate that the levels of request directness develop along distinct trajectories and timescales. Direct requests reflect higher accuracy and faster interpretation. While the most indirect level of requests shows the largest improvement in accuracy, the responses for these items are no faster at the end of the study than at the beginning. The development of conventionally indirect requests occupies a middle ground in terms of accuracy similar to direct requests and comprehension speed like implied items. Further findings reflect L2 pragmatic comprehension as a complex, dynamic system that emerges through the differential effects of predictor variables across measures and within sub-groups of participants based on proficiency improvement, motivation and response strategy. / text

The promising agenda of the EU-Russia strategic partnership has resulted in mutual frustration manifested in continuous crises between the partners. This study explores possibilities for political transformation in the EU-Russia relationship. In search of the key to understanding this complex relationship, I develop a three-fold argument. First, an ongoing crisis in EU-Russia cooperation cannot be understood without revealing the underlying problem of tension between the subjects’ autonomy and their ability to cooperate. Second, this problem produces a paradoxical form of “autonomous cooperation,” imposing limits on the prospects for political transformation in the EU-Russia relationship. Third, Bakhtin’s dialogism holds a significant potential to re-imagine the contradictions of autonomous cooperation in an alternative relational way. Despite the existence of a considerable body of literature on EU-Russia cooperation, little work has been done to investigate the connection between the intricacies of political discourse and problems in EU-Russia cooperation. By drawing on Bakhtin’s account of a “dialogic imagination,” I develop a model, which exposes the processes of mutual constitution of the Self and the Other. This dialogic model reveals that in their political statements, both the EU and Russia privilege the pattern of autonomy or cooperation. The partners produce prevalent discursive practices that reinforce these contradictory patterns of autonomy and cooperation, systematically inflicting crises in the EU-Russia relationship. By establishing dialogic connections between the chosen political statements, the model demonstrates that Russia and the EU co-create perceived differences between each other, isolate each other or try to form an autonomous, self-sufficient Self through imposition, self-exclusion, resistance or dominance. This model, I argue, permits an alternative vision of contemporary trends and possible futures for the EU-Russia relationship as an exemplar of an international relationship viewed through a dialogic lens. My study is also relevant under the conditions of ongoing conflicts in EU-Russia cooperation, which expose the inability of the partners to cooperate effectively. I conclude with practical implications for the partners to overcome the current stalemate. In Bakhtin’s words: “When dialogue ends, everything ends. Thus dialogue, by its very essence, cannot and must not come to an end.” / Graduate

Die folgende Arbeit macht es sich zur Aufgabe, die Übertragbarkeit der Sprechakttheorie nach Austin und Searle auf komplexe aktuelle politikwissenschaftliche Kommunikationssituationen zu untersuchen. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit werden die Grundlagen und Implikationen der Sprechakttheorie analysiert und erklärt. Daran anschließend erfolgt ein Transfer grundlegender Überlegungen der Sprechakttheorie auf den politikwissenschaftlichen Kontext. Hierbei soll die Übertragbarkeit der Sprechakttheorie auf komplexe politische Kommunikationsprozesse am Beispiel des performativen Selbstwiderspruchs deutlich gemacht werden. Ziel der Arbeit ist es, die Bedeutsamkeit der Sprechakttheorie anhand konkreter Beispiele differenziert zu reflektieren. Dabei soll der performative Selbstwiderspruch, der eine Verbindung zur Lehre von Austin und Searle besitzt, eine zentrale Rolle spielen.

This thesis, SPEECH ACT THEORY AND COMMUNICATION: A UNIVEN STUDY, is an investigation into the communicative competence of a group of second language speakers. The study employs Speech Act Theory, a discourse evaluation method within the cross-cultural paradigm, to ascertain the structural (form) and the pragmatic (function) statuses of selected utterances of entry-level students in the University of Venda for Science and Technology (Univen). Speech Act Theory is a concept premised on the notion that an utterance has a definite function, meaning or purpose, for example, to suggest, to advise, to complain; and that these functions are expressible in established structural codes. Implicit in this notion is the assertion that there is a correlation between the ‘form’ and the ‘function’ of utterances. The corollary to this is that, where there is no correlation, miscommunication may result. The contention of this study is that such a correlation may not always exist in the utterances of second language users of English because of the idiosyncratic nature of such utterances, derived from syntactic, semantic and pragmatic factors. The hypothesis continues to assert that despite the individualistic nature of these utterances, meaning can be created or miscommunication does not always result because hearers are able to accurately interpret the intention of the speakers, by exploiting notions such as implicature, conversation principles, context and prosodic features. This research is an attempt to identify the processes that speakers undergo to articulate their intentions and the verbal and non-verbal information that hearers require to interpret such intentions or messages. The quality of the processes of formulating intentions and interpreting them is directly dependent on the communicative ability of the interlocutors. Communicative ability is a very general term, inclusive of various abilities of the interlocutors amongst which are grammatical and pragmatic competences. Meaning is dynamic, flexible and dependent on negotiation among the interlocutors. This flexibility of meaning is even more pronounced when idiosyncratic utterances, such as those of second-language speakers, are examined. To ascertain how meaning is created from such individualistic utterances, an analysis of selected utterances was conducted along the principles of Speech Act Theory. The results of the analysis supported the hypothesis that, although different categories of blemishes are visible in these utterances, such characteristics do not always affect the interpretation process, indicating that a variety of non-linguistic clues is also required for communication. Conclusions reached include the fact that, even though both grammatical and pragmatic considerations are vital for the quality of the utterances, perhaps, Speech Act Theory does not make sufficient provision for blemished but meaning-bearing utterances, like those usually produced by second language users and the kind selected for this investigation. This observation also impinges on the validity of Speech Act Theory as the sole judge of communicative competence of second-language users. / Thesis (D.Litt (English))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / English / unrestricted