MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY HỒ THỊ THANH THÚY A STUDY OF INDIRECT SPEECH ACTS IN “12 YEARS A SLAVE” Field: English linguistics Code: 8 22 02 01 Supervisor: Assoc. Nguyễn Văn Long e BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN HỒ THỊ THANH THUÝ NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ HÀNH VI NGÔN NGỮ GIÁN TIẾP TRONG PHIM “12 YEARS A SLAVE” Chuyên ngành: Ngôn ngữ Anh Mã số: 8 22 02 01 Người hướng dẫn: PGS. Nguyễn Văn Long e i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP The thesis “A study of indirect speech acts in “12 years a slave”” is conducted by myself, and no other person‟s work has been used without acknowledgement in the research. Moreover, this research has not been submitted for any other degree or diploma at any university.
Quy Nhon, 2021 HO THI THANH THUY e ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc. Nguyen Van Long, who provides me with his endless patience, thoughtful guidance and critical suggestions so that I can complete this thesis in time. Secondly, I am so grateful to all the lecturers of the Department of Foreign Languages for providing me with precious materials and experience during the process of writing the thesis. Last but not least, I would like to give my special thanks to my beloved family, friends, and colleagues who encourage me and give me the motivation to accomplish this thesis.
e iii ABSTRACT Due to the significant contributions of indirect speech acts to comprehending language and the success of communication in daily life, the researcher decided to research with the aim of applying speech act theory into the analysis of indirectness in English discourse. This thesis aims to conduct the linguistic features of indirect speech acts collected from conversations in “12 years a slave”. Indirect speech act structures and indirect speech act functions are investigated with the help of quantitative and qualitative approaches as well as a combination of analytic, synthetic, descriptive and contrastive methods. Some noticeable findings were presented in this thesis.
There are 116 samples of indirect speech acts selected in the conversations of slaves in this movie. In terms of structure, the surface form matches the interactional function, but the literal meaning and intended meaning are different attains the most predominant frequency type in the total of structures of indirect speech acts realized in this film. As regards function, there are 26 indirect speech act functions examined in the chosen conversations of the movie. Some functions are used popularly, namely to refuse, to convince, to defend, to order, to protest, to insist, to promise, to express one’s anger and so on.
These findings are expected to contribute significantly to the better understanding of indirect speech acts uttered by slaves as well as the success of communication in “12 years a slave”. e iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES.
viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Aim and Objectives of the Study. Scope of the Study. Significance of the Study.
Organization of the Thesis. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. An overview of the Speech Acts Theory .Definition of Speech Acts .Level of Speech Acts .Classification of Speech Acts .Direct and Indirect Speech Acts .The role of context in studying Speech Acts. An overview of Indirect Speech Acts.Definition of Indirect Speech Acts .Characteristics of Indirect Speech Acts.
A Review of Previous Relevant Studies. 19 CHAPTER 3: METHODS AND PROCEDURES .4 Reliability and validity. 26 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .Structural features of indirect speech acts uttered by Solomon Northup and other slaves in “12 years a slave” .A declarative structure for a question .A declarative for a command/request .A declarative structure for an exclamation .Interrogative structure for a statement .Interrogative structure for a command/ request .Interrogative structure for an exclamation. Similarities and differences in structures of the examined indirect speech acts uttered by Solomon Northup and other slaves.
Functional features of indirect speech acts uttered by Solomon Northup and other slaves in “12 years a slave” .To order/ Command/ Request .To express one‟s sadness .To ask for permission .To express one‟s anger. Similarities and differences in functions of the examined indirect e vii speech acts uttered by Solomon Northup and other slaves. 69 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS. Conclusions relating to indirect speech act structures.
Conclusions relating to indirect speech act functions. Conclusions relating to main similarities and differences. Implications of the study. Limitations of the Study.
Suggestions for Further Research. 76 APPENDIXES e viii LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page number Comparisons of speech acts classification by Austin and 2.1 9 Searle The relationship between the structural form and its 2.3: The framework for analyzing the indirectness 19 of speech acts Distribution of structural features of indirect speech acts 4.1 uttered by Solomon Northup and other slaves in “12 years 28 a slave” Distribution of functional feature of indirect speech acts 4.2 uttered by Solomon Northup and other slaves in “12 years 40 a slave” e 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter provides all the preliminaries of the research. It starts with the rationale, aims and objectives of the study. After that, it presents research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the research, and the thesis's organization.Rationale Speech acts have been receiving a great deal of attention from linguists across the globe due to their essential role in studying language, especially in terms of pragmatics and sociolinguistics.
Additionally, speech acts are the solid foundation for the analysis of some pragmatics topics such as the principle of politeness, presuppositions, etc. For this reason, there have been numerous researches into speech acts. Some studies focus on the functions of speech acts like complaints, refusals, promises, etc. In contrast, others concentrate on some sub-types of speech acts, namely directives, direct speech acts and indirect speech acts in comedy films, animated television series, etc.
However, there has been a lack of research emphasizing indirect speech acts produced by slaves in historical drama films. During the process of studying indirect speech acts, the researcher tried to find a film not only containing indirect speech acts but also inspiring a meaningful message to the viewers. “12 years a slave” is chosen as the main source of data. There are two reasons why the researcher pays more attention to this film.
The first one is that it won the Academy Award for Best Picture in March 2014. This astonishing achievement opens the opportunities for the British film director, Mc Queen, to become the first black producer to win the e 2 Academy Award for the Best Picture. Secondly, the context that slaves manage to escape from the plantations influences the use of language in different conversations, and using indirect speech acts to conceal hidden messages is unavoidable. 12 Years a Slave is based on Solomon Northup's memoir.
Northup was a free African-American man and was born in New York State. He was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Washington, D. by two conmen. Before being liberated, Northup was forced to work on plantations for 12 years.
Besides, in terms of the main characters, master Epps, master Ford, as well as poor slaves like Eliza and Patsey are genuine people who appeared in the film. Black slaves namely Solomon Northup, Patsey, Eliza and so on are strong personalities facing their troubled life and slavery as the form of human right violations. Interestingly, they use language effectively in a particular situation in the period, where slavery is the number one issue in “12 years a slave”. Therefore, it is necessary to understand more about the intention of an utterance uttered by the main characters including Solomon Northup and other slaves in the movie so that at the end of this study, the researcher hopes that readers will not just watch the movie for entertainment but also have a fuller and deeper knowledge of what the movie is trying to convey through interpreting the intention of the utterances correctly.
Then, the researcher decides to choose conversations uttered by Black slaves as the object of the research. In addition, as far as I know, there has been no study on indirect speech acts in “12 years a slave”. Therefore, this thesis is conducted with the hope that it will become a source of research data regarding indirect speech acts. It also facilitates teachers to raise awareness among students about racism and to have much sympathy for the slaves across the globe.
For all reasons, the researcher decides to research the topic “A study of indirect speech acts e 3 in “12 years a slave”. Aim and Objectives of the Study 1. Aim This study is aimed to investigate linguistic features of indirect speech acts uttered by Black people including Solomon Northup and other slaves collected from conversations in the movie “12 years a slave”. Objectives To achieve this aim, the researcher will try to fulfill the following objectives: - To clarify the structures of the examined indirect speech acts uttered by Black people including Solomon Northup and other slaves in “12 years a slave”.
- To clarify the functions of the examined indirect speech acts uttered by Black people including Solomon Northup and other slaves in “12 years a slave”. Research Questions To achieve the above aim and objectives, the researcher will collect data and analyze it to answer the following questions - What are the structures of indirect speech acts introduced in conversations of the movie “12 years a slave”, and how often are they realized? - What are the functions of indirect speech acts introduced in conversations of the movie “12 years a slave", and how often are they realized? 1. Scope of the Study This study concentrates on identifying and analyzing the examined indirect acts found in “12 years a slave”. To be more specific, this study focuses on the structures and functions of indirect speech acts in the main e 4 character's conversations, Solomon Northup.
It also pays more attention to indirect speech acts produced by the others slaves who try to escape from the cruelty and injustice of slavery. Significance of the Study The study is expected to contribute data on slavery through analyzing indirect speech acts realized in the conversations among enslaved people. Moreover, many campaigns have increasingly launched to protect Black people from slavery worldwide over the past decades. Providing students with a deep comprehension of racism from the victim's perspective is a significant concern worldwide.
As a result, a better insight into the use of indirect speech acts produced by slaves in “12 years a slave” is expected to make valuable contributions to the success of communication in English conversations. Additionally, the spoken data is believed to enrich the knowledge of the English language and English-speaking cultures as well. Organization of the Thesis This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one, introduction, includes the rationale, the aim and objectives, research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the study.
Chapter two, literature review and theoretical background, comprises the relevant theoretical aspects and the previous relevant studies. Chapter three, research methodology, reveals the research design, research methods, data collection and analysis, research procedures, validity and reliability. Chapter four, findings and discussion, presents the research findings and discussion based on the theoretical background and analytical frameworks presented in chapter two and chapter three. e 5 Chapter five, conclusions and implications, is the final part that summarizes the study's major findings, draws conclusions, limitations, and suggests some ideas for further research.
e 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter starts with speech acts theory, followed by classification of speech acts, indirect speech acts, sentence structures. Finally, a review of previous studies is presented. An overview of the Speech Acts Theory 2. Definition of Speech Acts Speech acts focus on the actions expressed by utterances in conversations.