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Cited by 75Linguistics and Language AnalysisEFL/ESL Teaching and LearningLanguage, Discourse, Communication Strategies

A SPEECH ACT ANALYSIS OF TEACHER TALK IN AN EFL CLASSROOM

Open access
Basra, Sri Meiweni, Thoyyibah, Luthfiyatun·2017·International Journal of Education
DOI 10.17509/ije.v10i1.6848
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Abstract

The inappropriate use of speech act in EFL classroom may lead to misunderstanding due to the distinct cultures between the origin of language and the users. The purposes of the research are to find out speech act classification mostly used by an EFL teacher while teaching, the reason of why certain classification was preferred and the implication of the selected speech act classification toward the teaching and learning process. This research is a case study research involving an English teacher teaching an EFL class. The study uses Searle’s taxonomy of speech act classification as the instrument. The findings of the research show the frequency of each classification found as the following: 70% for directives, 21% for representative, 6% for expressive and 3% for commissive. Directive speech acts are used mostly by the teacher because the teacher adopts the principle of Communicative Language Teaching. The use of directive speech act apparently make implication towards the improvement of the students’ productive skills. The study concludes that the choice of speech acts classification determine the teaching approach and vice versa. It is recommended for English teachers wishing to help students to achieve communicative competence to use more directive speech acts.

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This case study analyzed one EFL teacher’s classroom talk using Searle’s speech act taxonomy and found directive speech acts dominated her teaching. The teacher attributed this to her Communicative Language Teaching approach and desire to get students talking, with the paper linking directive use to students’ productive skills.

Key findings

  • Across 673 teacher utterances, the distribution was directive 70%, representative 21%, expressive 6%, commissive 3%, and declarative 0%.
  • Directive speech acts were dominant; the teacher said she used them unconsciously, mainly to get students to talk and to enact Communicative Language Teaching principles.
  • Representative acts included concluding and repeating students’ answers; expressive acts included “thank you,” “I’m sorry,” and “Oh my God!”; commissive acts were least used at 19 utterances (3%).
  • The paper reports that the class of 14 students had average scores of 80% in speaking and 81% in writing, which it interprets as directive speech acts contributing to productive skills and communicative competence.

Methods

  • Qualitative case study involving one 25-year-old English teacher from West Java, Indonesia, teaching at an English course in Bandung with about three years’ experience and a TOEFL score of 602.
  • The class was a B1 CEFR level with 14 students aged 16 to 22; data included a full-length video of one meeting (1 hour, 26 minutes, 34 seconds), a teacher interview, and students’ score documents.
  • The video was transcribed, teacher utterances were categorized using Searle’s five speech act classifications with word clues from Qadir and Riloff (2011), then percentages were counted and interpreted descriptively.

Limitations

  • The paper does not state limitations.
  • Evident from the text: the study is a single case study with one teacher, one class, one meeting, and 14 students, so findings are not generalizable.
  • Evident from the text: speech act coding relied on word clues and a post-hoc teacher interview, and the teacher reported not realizing her directive use until told, which may limit interpretive certainty.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.17509/ije.v10i1.6848

Cites

14 of 14 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

2 of 15 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged · accuracy not yet measured

  • Premisecitation

    Good communicative competence is the impact or implication of using directive speech acts in the classroom.

    “Apparently, good communicative competence is the impact or the implication of using directive speech acts in the classroom as pointed out by Arani (2012).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Arani (2012) source

      The Abstract (no page supplied) describes nursery-school children’s directive speech acts and their awareness of social parameters of talk. Searches for communicative competence and for an impact of classroom directive speech acts found no passage in our copy saying that using directives produces good communicative competence. (LLM, conf=0.70)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Findingown data

    Four speech act classifications (representative/assertive, directive, expressive, and commissive) were used by the teacher in the EFL classroom.

    “It is found that there are only four speech act classifications used by the teacher to teach in the classroom.”
    • Also stated in: § Table 4. Commissives Speech Act · plain
      “To sum up, there are four speech acts classifications found in the study.They are representative/assertive, directive, expressive, and commissive.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The speech act word clues proposed by Qadir and Riloff (2011) reliably identify and classify the teacher's utterances in this EFL classroom.
    • Rests on an assumption: The transcription and classification of the videotaped data are accurate and consistent.
  • Findingown data

    Out of 673 utterances, 141 (21%) had the characteristics of representative speech acts.

    “Out of 673 utterances, it is found that 141 of them have the characteristics of representative speech acts.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The speech act word clues proposed by Qadir and Riloff (2011) reliably identify and classify the teacher's utterances in this EFL classroom.
    • Rests on an assumption: The transcription and classification of the videotaped data are accurate and consistent.
  • Findingown data

    The teacher wants to get students actively involved in classroom activities.

    “Second, the teacher wants to get students to be actively involved in the classroom activities.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The teacher's interview accurately reports her reasons and level of awareness about her use of speech acts.
  • Findingown data

    The teacher used directive speech acts because she wanted her students to talk and be active in speaking English.

    “The reason why I chose directive speech acts in my teaching is not because I know that it was directive speech acts.I didn't know that until you told me.So, uhm… okay, I used that because I really wanted my students to talk.”
    • Also stated in: § The Teacher's Reasons of Using Directive Speech Act Dominantly · plain
      “I really want my students to be active, not passive in speaking English.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The teacher's interview accurately reports her reasons and level of awareness about her use of speech acts.
  • May combine two claims. 10
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 2
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 13

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    The use of directive speech acts contributes to students' productive skills (speaking and writing) and helps build communicative competence.

    “The scores prove that the use of directive speech act contributes in fostering students' productive skills, which also helps in building students' communicative competence.”
    • Also stated in: § Abstract · hedged
      “The use of directive speech act apparently make implication towards the improvement of the students' productive skills.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Arani (2012) source

      The available Abstract (no page number) describes nursery-school children’s use of directive speech acts and their awareness of social parameters of talk. Searches for productive skills, speaking and writing, communicative competence, and skill scores found no passage addressing whether directive speech acts foster those outcomes; the available copy points to a PDF but does not include its contents. (LLM, conf=0.76)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
    • Rests on an assumption: The students' high speaking and writing scores are caused by the teacher's directive speech acts rather than other factors.
    • Rests on an assumption: The students' score documents are valid measures of their productive skills.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Commissive speech acts were the least used, with 19 utterances (3%).

    “The teacher only mentioned 19 utterances with commissive essence, which means the percentage is only 3% out of 100%.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The speech act word clues proposed by Qadir and Riloff (2011) reliably identify and classify the teacher's utterances in this EFL classroom.
    • Rests on an assumption: The transcription and classification of the videotaped data are accurate and consistent.

  • The quote only partly states this claim.

    Findingown data

    39 utterances (6%) were characterized by expressive speech act word clues.

    “39 utterances characterized by expressive speech act word clue are found in the data.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The speech act word clues proposed by Qadir and Riloff (2011) reliably identify and classify the teacher's utterances in this EFL classroom.
    • Rests on an assumption: The transcription and classification of the videotaped data are accurate and consistent.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The video shows that the teacher organizes a class discussion and asks students to talk in pairs.

    “The video (data) shows that the teacher organizes a class discussion and asks students to talk in pairs.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The transcription and classification of the videotaped data are accurate and consistent.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Directive speech acts dominated the teacher's utterances, accounting for 70% of the 673 utterances.

    “Directive speech acts dominate the utterance said by the teacher in the teaching process.Among those 673 utterances, 70% of them have directive speech acts word clues.”
    • Also stated in: § Table 4. Commissives Speech Act · plain
      “The dominant one used by the teacher is directive speech act which takes over 70% of the teacher's talk while doing the teaching.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The speech act word clues proposed by Qadir and Riloff (2011) reliably identify and classify the teacher's utterances in this EFL classroom.
    • Rests on an assumption: The transcription and classification of the videotaped data are accurate and consistent.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The teacher mostly used directives to ask students about something and to command and request students to do something.

    “Mostly, the teacher used directives with the intention is to ask the students about something, and to command and request the students to do something.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The speech act word clues proposed by Qadir and Riloff (2011) reliably identify and classify the teacher's utterances in this EFL classroom.
    • Rests on an assumption: The transcription and classification of the videotaped data are accurate and consistent.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The teacher's reason for using expressive speech acts is habit and wanting to be a good role model for students.

    “In the interview, she admitted that her reason of doing so is basically a habit because people are supposed to say “thank you” when somebody gives them something, say “sorry” if they think they might hurt somebody else's feeling, and say “oh my God” if people are surprised about something.”
    • Also stated in: § Utterance · plain
      “The other reason is that the teacher wants to grow those basic habits in her students by being a good role model of a social human being.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The teacher's interview accurately reports her reasons and level of awareness about her use of speech acts.

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The class of 14 students had average scores of 80% in speaking and 81% in writing.

    “The class consisting of 14 students where the data of this study was taken has the average scores of 80% in speaking and 81% in writing.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The students' score documents are valid measures of their productive skills.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Building a good rapport contributes to growing students' intrinsic motivation.

    “Harmer (2007) actually stated that building a good rapport, such as making students feel that the teacher treats them right, contributes to grow students' intrinsic motivation.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Harmer (2007)

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Language use in the classroom affects students' process and progress of learning.

    “Celce-Murcia (2000) pointed out that language use applied in the classroom affect students' process and progress of learning.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Celce-Murcia (2000)

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Interpretationreasoning

    Students will imitate the teacher's expressive speech acts when they interact inside or outside the classroom.

    “Therefore, the students will do the same when they interact inside or outside of the classroom.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The teacher's interview accurately reports her reasons and level of awareness about her use of speech acts.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Searle categorized five types of illocutionary acts: assertive, directive, commissive, expressive, and declarative.

    “Searle (1999) categorized five different types of illocutionary acts; assertive force, directive force, commissive force, expressive force, and declarative force.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Searle (1999)

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    CLT activities emphasize pair or group work and meaningful practice in which students make meaningful choices.

    “The activities fit what Richards (2006) pointed out in his book that activities carrying out the approach of CLT are the ones which have emphasis on pair or group work, and the ones with meaningful practice, in which the students are given the right to make meaningful choices when practicing.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Richards (2006)

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationreasoning

    When students' motivation is present, it encourages them to pay attention and get actively involved in the teaching and learning process.

    “Thus, when the motivation is there with the students, it encourages them more to pay attention and get actively involved in the teaching and learning process in the classroom.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Students may have different interpretations of a simple utterance said by the teacher.

    “Students may have different interpretations of a simple utterance said by the teacher.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Nuraini (2015)

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Premisenone given

    The study fills a gap in speech act classification research, which has previously mostly focused on political speeches.

    “The study hopefully fills the gap of research regarding speech acts classification analysis which has been conducted previously mostly by focusing on the analysis of political speeches.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims. The quote only partly states this claim.

    Interpretationown data

    The teacher's act of repeating students' answers was an effort of listening and establishing a good rapport.

    “Apparently, from the teacher interview, the teacher admitted that her act of repeating students' answer was one of the efforts of listening.”
    • Also stated in: § Utterance · plain
      “The nature of listening here is not “hearing”; rather, the teacher tried to show that she cared about what her students tried to say.”
    • Also stated in: § Utterance · plain
      “being there for students and listening to what they say and their opinions are efforts of establishing a good rapport.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The teacher's interview accurately reports her reasons and level of awareness about her use of speech acts.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Culture contributes to different styles of language use applied in making utterances.

    “The culture contributes to different styles of language use applied in making utterances.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Seifoori and Emadi (2015)

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Richards (2006) defined CLT as an approach that highly values communicative competence rather than grammatical competence.

    “Richards (2006) defined CLT as an approach which highly values communicative competence rather than grammatical competence.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Richards (2006)

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S1 (asserted).

    Premisecitation

    The use of speech acts in Indonesian EFL class leads to misunderstanding due to inappropriate use of the speech acts uttered.

    “She argued that the use of speech acts in Indonesian EFL class leads to a misunderstanding due to the inappropriate use of the speech acts uttered.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Nuraini (2015)

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    A framework based on speech act word clues proposed by Qadir and Riloff (2011), who further developed Searle's (1976) word clues, was used to determine sentences for Searle's speech act classification.

    “To determine the sentences to be categorized into Searle's speech act classification, a framework was developed based on speech act word clues or characteristics proposed by Qadir and Riloff (2011), who further developed speech act word clues listed by Searle (1976).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Qadir and Riloff (2011)
    • cites Searle (1976) source

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Premisenone given

    Most previous studies commonly analyze political speeches, advertisements, and strategies of performing certain speech acts.

    “Most studies commonly analyze political speeches, advertisement, and the strategy of performing certain speech acts (such as complimenting, apologizing, refusing and so on).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The choice of speech act classification determines the teaching approach and vice versa.

    “The study concludes that the choice of speech acts classification determine the teaching approach and vice versa.”
    • Also stated in: § CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION · hedged
      “The use of appropriate speech act classification while teaching apparently is based on the teaching approach the teacher adopts.”
    • Also stated in: § CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION · plain
      “Therefore, the choice of language and speech acts affects the teaching and learning as well as the teacher and students.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: The single observed teacher, class, and lesson are representative enough to support conclusions and recommendations about EFL teachers in the Indonesian context.
23 of 23

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The speech act word clues proposed by Qadir and Riloff (2011) reliably identify and classify the teacher's utterances in this EFL classroom.

    “To determine the sentences to be categorized into Searle's speech act classification, a framework was developed based on speech act word clues or characteristics proposed by Qadir and Riloff (2011), who further developed speech act word clues listed by Searle (1976).”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The single observed teacher, class, and lesson are representative enough to support conclusions and recommendations about EFL teachers in the Indonesian context.

    “This research is a case study research involving an English teacher teaching an EFL class.”
    “The recommendation is addressed for English teachers, especially in Indonesian context.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The students' high speaking and writing scores are caused by the teacher's directive speech acts rather than other factors.

    “The scores prove that the use of directive speech act contributes in fostering students' productive skills, which also helps in building students' communicative competence.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The teacher's interview accurately reports her reasons and level of awareness about her use of speech acts.

    “After carrying out teacher interview, it is found that the teacher does not really realize that she mostly used the directive speech acts while teaching.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The transcription and classification of the videotaped data are accurate and consistent.

    “Before analyzing the data and finding out the speech act classification, the videotaped-data were transcribed.The speech acts, performed by the teacher while teaching in the classroom, were subsequently analyzed within the framework of the five major classifications of speech acts developed by Searle:”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The students' score documents are valid measures of their productive skills.

    “In addition, the document of students' scores was collected from the teacher.”
    “The class consisting of 14 students where the data of this study was taken has the average scores of 80% in speaking and 81% in writing.”
6 of 6

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

4 of the 18 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 12

  1. Celce-Murcia, M. (2000). Discourse and context in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  2. Chiluwa, I. (2007). A speech act analysis of written adverts of soft drinks in Nigeria. Babcock Journal of Mass Communication, 1(3), 29-38.
  3. Enyi, A. U. (2016). Rhetorical diplomacy: A study of Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari's speech to the 70 th Session of the United Nations General Assembly-September, 2015. British Journal of English Linguistics, 4(2), 38-52.
  4. Enyi, A. U. (2016). Pragmatic analysis of Nigeria's President Mohammadu Buhari's Maiden Coup Address of January 1, 1984 and His Inaugural Address of May 29, 2015: A comparative appraisal. International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research, 4(5), 47-64.
  5. Grundy, P. (2008). Doing pragmatics (3 rd ) edition. London: Hodder Education.
  6. Ilyas, S. & Khushi, Q. (2012). Facebook status updates: A speech act analysis. Academic Research International 3(2), 500-507. Introductory Guide to the Common European Framework of Reference for English Language Teachers. (2013). Cambridge University Press.
  7. Nurani, N. P. (2015). A pragmatic analysis of classroom speech acts in the English teaching and learning process at SMA N 1 Purworejo (A Case Study). (Unpublished Thesis). Yogyakarta State University, Indonesia.
  8. Oluremi, Ajewole-Orimogunje C. (2016). Speech acts and Welfarist Ideology in Governor Aregbesola's May 1, 2013 Address. International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research, 4(4), 23-32.
  9. Richards, Jack. C. (2006). Communicative language teaching today. New York: Cambridge University Press
  10. Sadeghi, B., Ansari, F. J., & Rahmani, R. (2015). The effect of teacher talk on EFL learners' language learning performance, and learning strategy use. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World (IJLLALW), 8(2), n.p.
  11. Seifoori, Z., & Emadi, S. E. (2015). A Contrastive study of American and Persian compliment speech act. Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods, 5(3),543-549.
  12. Yule, G. (1996). Pragmatics. Oxford: OUP.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Basra, S. M., & Thoyyibah, L.
Affiliations
Indonesia University of Education (ID)
ORCID
Basra, Sri Meiweni
Venue
International Journal of Education
Publisher
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI)
Published
2017-09-03
Volume
10
Issue
1
Pages
73
ISSN
  • 1978-1342 (ISSN-L)
  • 2442-4730
DOI
10.17509/ije.v10i1.6848
OpenAlex
W2753879362
Cited by
75
References
18
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2
FWCI
33.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-sa
Locations
  • International Journal of Education (publishedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Linguistics and Language Analysis
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies
Keywords
speech acts, teacher discourse, EFL classroom, directive speech acts, representative speech acts, expressive speech acts, commissive speech acts, communicative language teaching, communicative competence, teacher language, cultural misunderstandings

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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-23.

Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-23.

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Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

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