Portfolio Entry #4: Speech Acts

''For me? Oh, ya shouldn't worry 'bout an old man like me, kiddos. 

Are ya havin' a good time here?'' the Schoolmaster asked.

We nodded our heads, surprised that a man of his status could
be so laid-back and informal. We guessed it was an
occupational hazard of being a tavern owner. 

''Now, now! I betcha here for the drinkin' contest, am I right?
You betta' stop gulpin' down those beers, or ya won't stand
a chance to win!'' He told us, gifting us with a big and 

warm smile, before leaving to welcome new customers.

Colleen Glenney Boggs. Speech Acts: Constative and Performative.
Retrieved from Youtube.

Words have power, we all know that. When words are grouped together, they form a statement which either announces a fact about something or someone, or describes and inspires an action. A fact like ''the sky is blue'' is a true constative statement, while a command or the phrase ''I’m sorry'' are performative statements. ''I’m sorry.'' is what we call a speech act, the speaker is apologising and that is considered an action in itself. We could also argue that the speaker is inspiring the listener to forgive them.

But for a suggestion or command to be followed, it needs to meet some felicity conditions, such as being authoritative, understandable, clear, and possible to execute. Just because the president (an authority) commands us to jump and touch the moon, it doesn’t mean that we can. Performative statements that are impossible to execute or lack authority are easily disregarded by people.

Metacognitive Analysis

Reflecting on what we do and say is a good activity. Sometimes we say things thoughtlessly, without considering what our words may provoke in our students and mates. In the classroom, we have power over our students, whether we like it or not. We utter a lot of performative statements, that’s our job, but what we should contemplate is what we utter as constative statements. Words have power. Our words have the power to transform, to change, and not always in the good sense.

Some may know of Dr. Masaru Emoto’s Rice Emotions Experiment, and if you don’t, here’s a video about it.

BizLife Brand. Masaru Emoto's Rice Experiment. Retrieved from Youtube.

The experiment may or not be fake, but it teaches us a good lesson: We have to be careful with what we say. A phrase such as ''You’re an idiot'', said regularly to someone as a true constative statement, will surely make them start to believe it and become their truth. I wonder then, if the phrase ''You’re an idiot'' is actually a performative statement turned into a true constative?

Something worth thinking about, I believe.