How Hypertext Users Do Things With Words

This study explores how hypertext users do things with words. The studies area related to hypertext using, such as web reading, Internet technology, and inner speech have studied respectively the use of natural language in the interpersonal interaction, the use of computer language in the human-interaction, and the use of inner speech in the intrapersonal interaction under the hypertext context to some extent. Whereas, none of them touches upon how hypertext users do things with words in its full range with a single framework/perspective. To narrow down this research gap, the author frame and addressed a general research question, how hypertext users do things with words in the contexts of human-computer interaction, interpersonal interaction and intrapersonal interaction, in the perspective of the speech act theory developed by Austin, Searle and Leech. As a basic framework, the theory has been applied into the authentic data, collected via computer screen recording and think-aloud protocols, which reflected 12 hypertext users.This study identifies three major kinds (and their multiple sub-categories) of doing-things-with-words and their characteristics, functions and patterns. Hypertext users perform the Intrapersonal Doing-things-with-words to identify their needs, to make decisions and to release their feelings through inner speech, the Human-Computational Doing-things-with-words to send requests to the server to bring the hypertext contents back via computer language, and the Interpersonal Doing-things-with-words to read hypertext information with natural language. A common pattern is identified in each Intrapersonal or Human-computational Doing-things-with-words activity:the perlocutionary object drives the performance of the locution, which releases and determines the illocution and leads to the perlocutionary sequel. A different pattern is found in each Interpersonal Doing-things-with-words activity:the perlocutionary object drives the performance of the reverse locution, which releases and determines the reverse illocution and leads to the perlocutionary sequel.The present study has theoretical values and methodological values but mainly focus on the former. The theoretical values are two-fold:(1) On the basis of the existing research findings, the present study creatively apply the theory of speech acts as a uniform theoretical framework to address and answer how hypertext users do things with words in the context of human-computational, interpersonal and intrapersonal interactions. It actually builds up a theory of hypertext users’ doing-things-with-words. The theory includes the followings:(a) A taxonomy of hypertext users’doing-things-with-words, which falls into three basic categories:the Intrapersonal, the Human-computational and the Interpersonal, according to the criteria of "doing which things with what words". The Intrapersonal contains the Volitive Intrapersonal, the Cognitive Intrapersonal and the Affective Intrapersonal. The Human-computational contains the Hyperlink Human-computational and the Text Human-computational. The Interpersonal contains the Hyperlink Interpersonal and the Text Interpersonal. Most of the above-mentioned categories have further sub-categories, (b) The idea about the constituents of hypertext users’ doing-things-with-words. Each Intrapersonal/Human-computational Doing-things-with-words include intrapersonal/human-computational locution, illocution, and perlocution. Each Interpersonal Doing-things-with-word includes reverse locution, reverse illocution, and perlocution. (c) The patterns of doing-things-with-words, as stated above. (2) The theory of speech acts have been testified and developed in its application into hypertext. By "developed", it means this study makes full use of the theory and goes beyond the theory by creating a new concept, "the speech-comprehending act". The paper demonstrates in data that the speech comprehending act, performed by hypertext users, and the speech act, performed by hypertext producers make a dialectical contribution to a more complex doing-things-with-words. As the methodological value is concerned, the current study initiate the application of the theory of speech acts into hypertext, and the combination of empirical computer-screen videoing and think-aloud protocols with theoretical speech-act analysis.