Abstract
Language aptitude and perlocutionary acts and effects have been subjects of extensive research since their true beginnings in the 1950’s and 1960’s, respectively. On the one hand, Carroll and Sapon (1959), Pimsleur (1966), or Biedroń (2012) aimed at revealing the factors responsible for a learner’s sixth sense for languages. On the other hand, almost simultaneously, Austin (1962) introduced the tripartite division of a speech act, with locutions, illocutions, and perlocutions as the integral components, later developed by Searle (1969), who shed new light on the Speech Act Theory (SAT). At that time, however, the role of the perlocutionary component was significantly diminished, since the primary goal of pragmatics was to investigate the speaker’s intentions. Gradually, the role of perlocutionary acts and effects changed and more attention was drawn to the perlocutionary aspect. In 1979, Cohen, Davis and Gaines highlighted the fact that perlocutionary acts have perlocutionary goals, which might be observed by the subsequent effects utterance have on the listener. In 2013, Post offered a new insight into the SAT and suggested that the role of perlocution ought not to be diminished, but enhanced and intensified. In 2015, Świątek suggested a contrasting approach to both concepts and combined them to investigate the role of individual differences responsible for one’s verbal perlocutionary giftedness. The research revealed that the aspects like verbal aptitude, anxiety, willingness to communicate, or personality type had considerable impact on perlocutionary skills and the desired perlocutionary effects. Świątek’s approach shed new light on the research on pragmatic aspects of glottodidactics and opened a new chapter in that field of science. The aim of the presentation is to concentrate on yet another fundamental factor of perlocutionary giftedness, i.e. non-verbal aspects in its manifestation. The research, based on experiential and comparative methods as well as individual case analysis, aimed at revealing a strong link between verbal perlocutionary giftedness and the accompanying non-verbal aspects of communication, such as kinesics, proxemics, vocalics, or posture, which affect the listener’s decisions, who then complies with the speaker’s will.
Highlights
In 1962, Austin introduced the Speech Act Theory (SAT), which contained the tripartite division of a speech act consisting of locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary components, each of them comprising an integral and indispensable part of an individual utterance
The results show that non-verbal aspects of communication seem to be an extensive part of human interaction and exert a great degree of influence on the other members of communicative acts if properly used
The presented research reveals that non-verbal communication is among the vital aspects of verbal perlocutionary giftedness and seems to be crucial when aiming at dominating a conversation and achieving the target goal, forcing the listener to accept even an undesired viewpoint or, due to a lack of resources to respond or defend individual suggestions and arguments
Summary
In 1962, Austin introduced the Speech Act Theory (SAT), which contained the tripartite division of a speech act consisting of locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary components, each of them comprising an integral and indispensable part of an individual utterance. When considering the most recent perspective regarding the phenomenon of perlocution, it ought to be taken into consideration when discussing the linguistic viewpoint and changing trends and requirements in contemporary language education and instruction, which, according to the latest curriculum, pays more attention to effective and successful speaking and communication. Complex as it seems to be, perlocution is a significant and indispensable part of this process. There seem to be speakers who intimidate other language users and make them accept their viewpoints without any significant negotiation of meaning or conditions by making use of multiple non-verbal means of communication and increasing their communicative efficiency
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