Problems And Strategies Of Speech Act Theory Studies In China

Speech Act Theory is a major theory of both language philosophy and pragmatics. It was originally put forward by ordinary language philosophers John L. Austin and John R. Searle in the early fifties of the last century.In China, Speech Act Theory has gained due attention and many studies have been conducted on it. Some scholars tend to focus on methods for speech act analysis, others on the application of Speech Act Theory to other relative fields, and still others, probably the majority, on the principles of the theory. Therefore, it is now quite necessary to give a comprehensive review of the studies of Speech Act Theory in China to promote its development and its application to the relative fields.The author has reviewed the acceptance of Speech Act Theory in China from the synchronic and diachronic perspective.Synchronically, the acceptance of Speech Act Theory is presented from four perspectives: 1) the introduction and elucidation of the theory; 2) the criticism and evaluation of the theory; 3) the Chinese studies of the theory; 4) the studies of the theory in other fields.Diachronically, the author has divided the studies of Speech Act Theory in China into two stages: the preliminary stage from 1979 to 1989, in which Professor Xu Guozhang, Professor He Ziran, Professor Gu Yueguo, Professor He Zhaoxiong introduce this theory to Chinese people; the secondary stage from 1990 up to now, where more scholars are involved in the study of the theory. Textbooks of pragmatics have been published in English language and Chinese language, which have all included chapters on Speech Act Theory.In this thesis, the studies of Speech Act Theory in China have been analyzed in detail, problems in these studies have been pointed out, and strategies for future Speech Act Theory studies in China have been put forward. Speech Act Theory is still at its infant stage; its studies and applications need improvement and development. Firstly, there are problems as to the theory itself. Secondly, some problems concerning the acceptance of Speech Act Theory in China have been pointed out.Some suggestions for future Speech Act Theory studies in China have been proposed. Strategies for the problems of the theory itself have been put forward. Firstly, more attention should be paid to the perlocutionary act. Secondly, a new framework of Speech Act Theory has been proposed. Thirdly, the performative-constative hypothesis is important in Speech Act Theory. Fourthly, more emphasis should be placed on the oral text, and speech act should be studied in conversation. Some strategies for the problems of introduction also have been put forward. Firstly, diversified methods should be adopted in Speech Act Theory studies. Secondly, we call for the identical translation of the important terms. Thirdly, other important parts of Speech Act Theory should be continuously introduced in China. Fourthly, more comparative studies between Chinese and English need to be conducted. Fifthly, the focus of the introduction is the establishment of Chinese Speech Act Theory. The Chinese culture and language should be emphasized. Sixthly, the cooperation of different scholars is important. People doing research concerning it should examine the original works of Austin and Searle thoroughly and comprehensively. Seventhly, the study of Speech Act Theory should absorb nourishments from other disciplines, such as mathematical logic, cognitive science and artificial intelligence. Eighthly, the application of the research results of Speech Act Theory should be emphasized, which will accelerate the development of the philosophy of language, the philosophy of mind, stylistics, discourse analysis, conversation analysis, literary critics and second language acquisition. In turn, the development of these fields will also contribute to the study of Speech Act Theory and so on.