Analyzing Favor Asking From The Perspective Of Speech Act Theory

The present thesis represents an entirely new analytical approach to the phenomenon of favor asking from the perspective of speech act theory. Consequently, it investigates the realization of a particular speech act of favor asking in proper contexts.Favor asking is a universal phenomenon, although it occurs infrequently in public situations. But in fact,it often occurs in rather private situations between friends, relatives, colleagues and classmates. This is to be interpreted by the felicity conditions specified by speech act theory.Several defining features emerge from actual spontaneous favors collected from an area in the U.S. over a period of time. These features include (i) asking for what is outside of the hearer's daily routine; (ii) doing what requires time and/or effort; (iii) having an element of reciprocity in terms of a return favor; (iv) being free of obligations to fulfill the task. Adequacy of these features would enable a favor to be a favor. The author argues that some, if not all, of the features seem to be "generated" by speech act theory.In addition, favor asking is not an isolated but three- stage form . This is also explainable in virtue of the explanatory power that speech act theory has in describing conversational sequencing.As a result, favor asking is found to be accountable within the framework of speech act theory. In fulfilling this task, other theories of importance also come into play, such as the notion of the face and the Cooperative Principle. They collectively provide a best solution to the problem.Finally, it has been pointed out that speech act theory is still of prime importance. Knowing which speech act to perform is a crucial part of how to use language to communicate.