The words and messages in apps are part of a conversation between people and their technology that we take part in every day. As technology becomes increasingly embedded into our daily lives, we form relationships with our devices and our apps. While we might think of these relationships as different, our behaviors and interactions with technology are still shaped by the social world, and these messages found in apps are based on existing patterns in face-to-face conversation. UX writing is the process of creating these messages in user experiences, which facilitate people's social interactions between apps and other digital products. Interacting with apps and other digital products is inherently social, and by using conversational language as a driving component of UX writing and Human-Computer Interaction, we can also cast User Experience (UX) as a type of communicative exchange between a person and an app, and therefore User Experience (UX) as conversation. Through qualitative interviews and usability testing with native and non-native English speakers, this research explores what type of language style works best for a global audience in these conversations with our apps and how we can strategically apply conversational patterns to improve the experience of users. Abstrakt Slova a zprávy v...

In this study, young children’s development of speech acts was examined. Interaction between six Swedish-speaking parents and their children was observed. The frequency, form and distribution of speech acts in the output from the parents were compared with the frequency, form and distribution of the children’s speech acts. The frequency was measured by occurrences per analysed session. The aim of the analysis was to examine if the parent’s behaviour could be treated as a baseline for the child’s development. Both the parents’ and the children’s illocutionary speech acts were classified. Each parent-child dyad was observed at four different occasions, when the children were 1;0, 1;6, 2;0, and 2;6 years of age. Similar studies have previously shown that parents keep a consistent frequency of speech acts within a given time span of interaction, though the distribution of different types of speech acts may shift, depending on contextual factors. The form, in terms of Mean Length of Speech Act in Words (MLSAw), were correlated with the longitudinal result of the children’s MLSAw. The distribution of the parents’ speech acts showed extensive individual differences. The result showed that the children’s MLSAw move significantly closer the MLSAw of their parents. Since the parent’s MLSAw showed a wide distribution, these results indicate that the parent’s speech acts can be treated as a baseline for certain aspects of the children’s development, though further studies are needed.

Usage-based, constructivist approaches to first language acquisition assume that children’s linguistic abilities emerge in a piecemeal fashion through interaction with mature language users (Tomasello 2003). In spite of the fact that both formal and functional characteristics of the linguistic constructions involved are thought to be of importance in this process, most previous studies have focused exclusively on form. The current study aims at exploring the contribution of functional factors in the learning of a subset of yes-no questions: providing an in-depth analysis of the emergence of Can -person-process?-constructions in a high-density Childescorpus of a boy learning English (Lieven et al. 2009), it is shown that functional factors need to be considered in order to be able to account for the developmental path. It is suggested that we need to re-evaluate the relationship between (formal as well as functional) frequency, salience, and entrenchment and the ways in which these aspects interact during the language learning process. This has important implications for future research on language development as well as for claims about the mental organization of linguistic knowledge within CxG and Cognitive Linguistics more generally.

This essay utilizes Speech Act Theory to assess Donald Trump’s role in inciting the riot that took place in Washington D.C. on the 6th of January, 2021 and culminated with the attack on the Capitol building. For the purposes of the study a corpus was created with tweets collected from the Trump Twitter Archive. The tweets cover the span between the latest presidential election, on the 3rd of November, 2020, to the day of the attack. The corpus was read manually and sorted into themes. The themes that emerged show that: a) Trump was convinced of his victory, b) felt that the election was rigged, c) accused news networks, the Democrats and even prominent Republicans for his loss, and d) called the people for action. A quantitative method that identified the most common words in the corpus corroborated the identification of the described themes. The themes were compared to Speech Act Theory’s felicitous conditions for directive speech acts. The study found that Trump’s tweets satisfy the conditions for the successful directive speech acts of Order and Command, thus providing grounds to make the case that he was responsible for inciting the attack.

Diese Dissertation führt den Beweis, dass Sprechaktbezug nicht anaphorischer, sondern deiktischer Natur ist, und stellt ein formales Modell für denselben vor. Korpusdaten in gesprochenem Deutsch und Daten aus Fernseh-Talkshows zeigen, dass man sich nur mit demonstrativen Ausdrücken auf Sprechakte beziehen kann. Zusätzlich unterstützen zwei Experimente die Beobachtung, dass Sprechaktbezüge nicht mit Personalpronomen getätigt werden. Nur selten lassen Muttersprachler des Deutschen ein gegebenes Personalpronomen auf einen Sprechakt referieren, und nur selten wählen sie das Personalpronomen, um sich auf einen gegebenen Sprechaktreferenten zu beziehen. Die klare Präferenz liegt beim Demonstrativum. Um auf Entitäten außerhalb des Diskurses zu referieren, nutzt man im Deutschen Demonstrativ-, nicht aber Personalpronomen. Dementsprechend sollten Sprechakte als Ereignisse im Äußerungskontext und nicht als Teil von sprachlicher Form und Bedeutung aufgefasst werden. Bestehenden Diskurstheorien mangelt es an einer Unterscheidung zwischen Anaphern und Deixis, während umgekehrt Theorien über sprachliche Bezüge sich nicht mit Sprechakten beschäftigen. Segmented Discourse Representation Theory (SDRT) integriert nicht-sprachliche Objekte als Diskursreferenten in die Diskursstruktur, was auch für Sprechakte gilt. Dieser Umstand erlaubt allerdings Anaphern auf Sprechakte. Da sich schwach referentielle Ausdrücke wie Personalpronomen nicht auf Sprechakte beziehen können, muss die Ontologie von Sprechakten in SDRT überdacht werden. Hier wird eine SDRT-Variante vorgestellt, die als Diskursmodell zwei Informationsquellen umfasst, nämlich a) semantische Äußerungsinhalte und b) die physische Umgebung der Gesprächsteilnehmer (d.h. ihre "joint attention"), dargestellt als zwei DRSen. Das Modell unterscheidet systematisch zwischen anaphorischem und deiktischem Bezug und dadurch auch zwischen Bezug auf sprachlichen Inhalt und auf sprachliche "Behältnisse": Sprechakte. / This dissertation provides evidence that reference to speech acts is deictic, not anaphoric, and furthermore introduces a formal model of speech act reference. Corpus data from spoken German as well as observed data from German TV talk shows demonstrates that speech acts are exclusively referred to by demonstrative expressions. Additionally, new experimental evidence supports this observation and shows that speech acts are not referred to by personal pronouns. German native speakers rarely make given personal pronouns refer to a speech act, nor do they decide for a personal pronoun to refer to a given speech act referent when forced to choose between personal and demonstrative pronouns. Demonstratives are strongly preferred. In German, demonstrative pronouns rather than personal pronouns are used to refer to objects external to the discourse. Consequently, speech acts should be modeled as events in the utterance context rather than as parts of linguistic form and meaning. Existing theories of discourse structure lack a distinction between anaphora and deixis, while theories of reference do not integrate the concept of a speech act. Segmented Discourse Representation Theory (SDRT) introduces non-linguistic entities in discourse structure. This includes speech acts, which are introduced as discourse referents, which in return predicts anaphoric reference to speech acts. Since reference to speech acts with weak expressions like personal pronouns does not occur, the status of speech acts in SDRT must be redefined. As variant of SDRT, I propose a discourse model that comprises the two information sources of a) semantic content of utterances and b) immediate physical environment of the interlocutors (i.e. their joint attention), which are represented as a pair of DRSs. This model systematically distinguishes between anaphora and deixis, and therefore between reference to linguistic content and reference to linguistic containers: speech acts.

Austin's Speech Act Theory is a valuable tool for the analysis of a literary text. In interaction, the intentionand purpose-success of linguistic communication can be gauged by establishing whether participants have met felicity conditions and have respected maxims. When the Co-operative Principle is ignored, special effects are achieved and receivers can only make sense of utterances through implicature and inferences based on background knowledge and mutual contextual beliefs. In the drama, Buzani kubawo, characters interact on four levels of time in space and place. They reveal themselves and convey theme through their speech and actions. Conflict is entrenched by lines of force drawn between opposing characters and between sub-worlds contrasted. Cohesion, determined by plot structure, and form, expressed on the endophoric and exophoric levels, give meaning to the drama. The micro-analysis of the wedding scene illustrates how communication can misfire should the playwright allow it! / African Languages / M.A. (African languages)

Austin's Speech Act Theory is a valuable tool for the analysis of a literary text. In interaction, the intentionand purpose-success of linguistic communication can be gauged by establishing whether participants have met felicity conditions and have respected maxims. When the Co-operative Principle is ignored, special effects are achieved and receivers can only make sense of utterances through implicature and inferences based on background knowledge and mutual contextual beliefs. In the drama, Buzani kubawo, characters interact on four levels of time in space and place. They reveal themselves and convey theme through their speech and actions. Conflict is entrenched by lines of force drawn between opposing characters and between sub-worlds contrasted. Cohesion, determined by plot structure, and form, expressed on the endophoric and exophoric levels, give meaning to the drama. The micro-analysis of the wedding scene illustrates how communication can misfire should the playwright allow it! / African Languages / M.A. (African languages)

Thesis (MA (African Languages))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The study explores how Grade 10 learners use the speech act of apology in an educational environment. Apologies are viewed in this study as a kind of remedial work; action taken to change what may be regarded as an offensive act into an acceptable one. Eight different strategies for complaining and twenty-one for apologising are presented with examples to illustrate each. Data was gathered using questionnaires in order to gain insight in the total number of complaint and apology strategies used. Analysis of the answered questionnaires showed that while there are strategies which are commonly used by both male and female learners, some strategies are used mostly by male learners and some mostly by female learners.

本研究主要依據語言行為理論(theory of speech acts) 及語言使用的客氣理論(politeness theory) ，探討一段以要求為主題的對話中，要求者不同果斷性 (assertiveness) 的言語行為，與對話雙方性別此二因素，如何影響知覺此對話的受試(1) 記憶要求者所說目標論辭的百分比高低與論辭果斷性的強弱；(2) 推論對話雙方的權力高低與關係親密度；(3) 評價要求者所採用的言語行為與預測對話雙方長期關係的後果。 本研究採3 （言語行為的果斷性：標準果斷、同理果斷、不果斷）×4 （要求者對接 收者的性別訊息：男對女、男對男、女對女、女對男）的受試者間實驗設計，參與實 驗的三百六十位大學生受試，先閱讀某一種實驗處理情況的文字對話，然後再填寫一 份包含回憶論辭作業與各種社會判斷題目的問卷。經二因子便異數分析與單純主要效 果模式(simple main effect model)考驗的結果發現：(1) 受試對果斷性愈強的目標論辭，回憶的百分比愈高，且同理果斷的論辭由「男對女」此由「男對男」中的男要求者說出，有更高的回憶百分比；(2) 性別訊息對受試所回憶目標論辭的果斷性、權力高低、親密度、言語行為的評價與後果，比接收者的權力更高，且雙方關係愈親密；(4) 受是本人較喜歡女要求者與男接收者互動時採用同理果斷，甚於採用不果斷的言語行為；(5) 不論接收者是男或女，女要求者採用不果斷比採用標準果斷的言語行為，更有利於長期關係的後果。 鑑於上述結果，實驗者討論了本研究的意涵(implication) 與可能的限制，並對相關議題的研究者與果斷性訓練(assertiveness training;AT) 的應用者提出建議；特別是，過去十多年來為AT重視的標準果斷，並未此另兩種果斷性的言語行為，有更佳的立即評價；而近年來也頗受AT強調的同理果斷，亦未有最好的長期關係後果。實驗者認為，AT中的女性學員，學習較具果斷性的言語行為，其負面的評價與後果之議題，直的深思。

Dans ce mémoire, les contes de trois conteurs contemporains du Québec – Jos Gallant d’André Lemelin, Ti Pinge de Joujou Turenne et L’entrain à vapeur, de Fred Pellerin – font avant tout l’objet d’une lecture pragmatique afin de mieux comprendre comment le conteur, qui emploie le canevas en spectacle, transmet une fiction à un auditoire ou à un lectorat. L’étude présente d’abord une analyse comparative de chacune des prestations avec la version publiée d’un même récit et met ainsi en relief leurs points de convergence et de divergence. Selon l’hypothèse avancée, l’analyse de la prestation des conteurs qui suivent un canevas révèlerait comment s’y manifestent les dimensions performatives et les articulations du discours fictionnel. Corrélativement, l’examen des rapports entre le conteur et son public permet ensuite de s’interroger sur le statut du narrateur et de voir en quoi et comment, durant la performance, la fiction est partagée avec l’auditoire. L’analyse des énoncés performatifs, inspirés des travaux de Kerbrat-Orechionni et la dynamique de vectorisation proposée par Pavis pour l’étude de la gestuelle, des mimiques et de la voix, sont mises à contribution et visent également à dégager les outils pouvant servir à l’analyse des spectacles de contes. Au terme de cette recherche, l’auteure démontre les avantages liés au canevas, notamment en ce qui concerne les interactions qu’il favorise avec le public et dans la liberté qu’il procure, en permettant de modifier ou d’adapter le discours et les ressources expressives du conteur à chacune de ses représentations. / In this thesis, the three tales written by contemporary Quebec storytellers – Jos Gallant by Andre Lemelin, Ti Pinge by Joujou Turenne and L’entrain à vapeur by Fred Pellerin – are for the most part subjected to a pragmatic reading, where the objective is to develop a better understanding of how these storytellers employ structure in storytelling to transmit fiction to their audiences or readers. The study begins with an analysis of each story, a comparison of the storytelling and published versions, and finally their various points of convergence and divergence are highlighted. In accordance with this hypothesis, the analysis of each storyteller’s performance structure will reveal how the performative and fictional discourse dimensions are expressed. Correspondingly, through examining the relationships between the storyteller and the audience, we question the narrator’s status and discover by what means and how the fiction is shared with the audience during the performance. The analysis of performative statements, inspired by the work of Kerbrat-Orechionni and by dynamic vectorization put forward by Pavis for the study of gestures, facial expressions and voice, which are all made to contribution, also targets the identification of any tools useful for storytelling analysis. Once having completed this research, the author demonstrates how structure, especially that used to encourage audience interaction and the overall freedom generally procured can be beneficial in modifying or adapting expressive speech and other resources available to storytellers in each of their performances.