Speech Acts and Social Moves
February 2, 2007

Speech situations and activities set the stage for speech acts - questions, compliments, complaints, curses, etc. Every bit of speech (or silence) constitutes a social move - a potential furthering of an agenda, a next step in a discourse or a relationship. Today's class will examine the notion of speech act, and the gendered deployment of speech acts in the social world.

Class Slides PDF

Readings

Eckert and McConnell-Ginet, Chapter 4

Now's the time to start thinking about the assignment that's due next Friday (and the Friday after).