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C H A P T E R 4
Describing speech acts:
linking research and
pedagogy
Noriko Ishihara and Andrew D. Cohen
Introduction
N
atural discourse often includes hedges, fillers, repetitions, over-
laps, and repairs, woven in the frequent turn-taking, and the
structure of naturally occurring conversation can be highly complex. As we
have seen in Activity 3.1 in the previous chapter, the pragmatic use of lan-
guage found in natural conversations reminds us that natural conversations
often fail to be neatly packaged interchanges. One current view holds that if
we truly wish to understand the complex organization of natural discourse,
we should rely on naturally occurring data alone. An oft-mentioned short-
coming of such data, however, is the difficulty involved in collecting com-
parable data (see Chapters 3 and 9 for further discussion).
In addition to natural data, empirical research in pragmatics thus far has
also utilized various elicited means of data collection (as discussed in
Chapter 3). As they are elicited, these data may not provide a mirror image
of authentic language use. However, it is our view that dismissing this mas-
sive body of collective knowledge at this point is like “throwing the baby
out with the bath water.” We feel that these data can supplement natural
data and are valuable research-based information applicable to teaching 
L2 pragmatics. The vast amount of such data currently available includes
descriptions of language structures and a range of norms for pragmatic
behavior in the communities where the target language is used.
This chapter is intended to serve as a guide to the basic shape of some 
of the well-researched speech acts. A more comprehensive version of the

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D E S C R I B I N G S P E E C H A C T S : L I N K I N G R E S E A R C H A N D P E D A G O G Y
5 7
majority of information offered here is posted on the CARLA Speech Act
website introduced in Chapter 3 (available at: http://www.carla.umn.edu/
speechacts/descriptions.html
1
). This database was originally developed with
the intention of supporting teachers and curriculum writers in their efforts
to share this information with learners. And in some cases learners have
gone directly to the site in order to obtain material to use in performing
speech acts in and out of class.
2
The CARLA Speech Acts website has descriptions of six speech acts
(apologies, complaints, compliments and responses to compliments,
requests, refusals, and thanks), with examples from various languages (e.g.,
English, Spanish, German, Chinese, Japanese, and Hebrew). The amount 
of information on a given speech act varies greatly depending on the avail-
ability of research articles that investigate that speech act. In the remainder
of this chapter, we will look at the information on several speech acts in
American English, as well as on conversational implicature, with an eye to
its application to language instruction. The speech acts are compliments
and responses to compliments, refusals, apologies, and requests. We end
this chapter with an activity intended to provide teacher readers with an
opportunity to explore resources on the CARLA website and elsewhere for
certain pragmatic features that they choose to teach.
Compliments and responses to compliments
Compliments in English often function as a “social lubricant,” helping the
social relationships to go smoothly. How are compliments used, for example,
in US culture? What strategies are used to give and respond to compliments?
Are there any taboos in giving or responding to compliments? How do these
norms of behavior vary across languages and cultures?
Functions and strategies for complimenting
According to past research, compliments in English are often used to:
■
express admiration or approval of someone’s work/appearance/taste;
■
establish/confirm/maintain solidarity;
3
■
serve as an alternative to greetings/gratitude/apologies/congratulations;
4
1
Accessed on December 10, 2009.
2
ESL students have accessed the website online and taken material from the speech
act descriptions for requesting in order to perform role-plays ( Jernigan et al. 2007).
3
Herbert (1990); Manes (1983).
4
Manes and Wolfson (1981); Wolfson (1989).

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